Harry Potter Out of Darkness
by Generic404
Summary: Harry was a beaten down boy when he left the Dursleys watch him grow emotionally and heal with the help of a certain red haired girl. Hinny/Soulbound. Some OOC but not much, mainly a fluffy story.
1. Acceptance Letter

**A/N**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or anything related to the series.**

This the first thing I've written in quite a while, so forgive me if it's a bit rough. I have plans all the way through to the end of the second wizarding war so as long as there is interest i'll keep writing, I have about four chapters written already. Some notes on my plans for this story, it won't be a complete retelling at least not in the beginning, I plan on making it through the first two books quite quickly, as this is a Hinny/Soulbound series I obviously want to get to those parts soon. I'll mainly use the first two books to point out differences in the characters and major plot lines, one more slight change first years start at 14, mainly so it'll be easier for me to write the romantic stuff I want. Also the beginning has some hints of child abuse so be warned, but all in all this should be a rather fluffy Hinny story. One last note if anyone would like to become an editor on this series hit me up i'm awful with grammar and conversations so any help or advice will be appreciated! Enjoy!

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

Daydreams of a world of peace and magic were his one safe place where he could ignore the hunger pains, where the throbbing of the lashings was dulled to a ignorable level and the bruises faded to a point where if he tried he could pretend they weren't there. In this magic place he was never cold when he was huddled under his thread bear sheets because a beautiful redheads warm smiles warmed him from the inside out. Harry knew that being 13 he was too old to be having daydreams about magic but he couldn't help himself it was one of the few things that kept him sane when his "family" was being especially cruel to him. On top of that "magic" was the only thing that could describe some of the crazy things that happened around him.

He winced as he shifted his position in his cupboard and bumped the freshest set of bruises he had just earned a few moments ago from his uncle and his new favorite educational tool, the baseball bat. Uncle Vernon had bought it for Dudley years ago, but the whale had never bothered to use after he got winded swinging it twice in the backyard. Harry was reasonably certain that the bruises in his upper arm went all the way to the bone and that a few of his ribs were bruised if not cracked based on how hard it was for him to breath and not to even mention his assumedly sprained right wrist.

He wasn't sure how the joystick on Dudley's newest gaming system had turned into a snake after he had knocked harry over hitting his head on the counter in his haste to get to the living room. But it had and scared the hell out of Dudley and the rest of the Dursleys, to the point that his aunt looked at Harry with a look of complete disgust and ran screaming away from him to protect her Dudders. That was when uncle Vernon had retrieved the bat and proceed to beat the "freak" out of Harry as best as he could. Once he was satisfied with the beating he had delivered he had dragged harry to the cupboard by the wrist twisting it sharply as he threw the small boy in and proceeded to lock all 5 of the locks yelling about how he wouldn't be getting food for the next 2 days.

Harry carefully shifted carefully and closed his eyes trying to ignore the pain and breathe as deep as he could to get to his safe magic place in his head. It was probably something similar to a trance or mediation that the monks used that he had learned about in school. Two days later when he was allowed to leave his room for more than a bathroom break twice a day he was rudely woken up when his aunt wrenched his down open.

"Get to the kitchen now boy and start making breakfast, we're tired off you slacking off around here and not earning you keep."

"Yes ma'am" his voice cracked from the dehydration and lack of use.

Careful to keep his eyes down he stumbled out of the cupboard as fast as he could. He made breakfast as quickly as possible and ensured he didn't burn any, once it was finished and placed on the table he quickly snuck two pieces of toast and scarfed the two big glasses of water not know when he would get the chance next. After he heard the family sit down and begin to eat their food Harry stood in the corner of the room waiting for them to finish so he could clean their dishes.

When the letter box clattered with the sound of the arriving mail Harry made his way quickly to the front door in order to ensure that he retrieved the mail before his Uncle could have any reason to start the morning off with a beating. While walking back to the kitchen Harry noticed one of the letters seemed a different from the others when he looks more closely at it he realizes that it's addressed to him!

Mr. H Potter

The Cupboard under the Stairs

4\. Privet Drive

Little Whinging

Surrey

"Here is the mail, sir." He slowly placed the letters on the table next to Uncle Vernon and slowly backed up to the corner to begin to open his own letter.

"Harry has a letter, dad! Dad! Harry is opening a letter!" Dudley yells and moves faster than Harry has ever seen him move to take the letter away from him and gives it to his father.

"Who would waste their time writing to a worthless boy like you?" Uncle Vernon sneered.

His sneer vanished quickly when he looked closely at the letter and he turned a ghastly white when he looked at the seal on the back. "Dudly why don't you go play your game me and you mother need to talk, and you boy go clean the bathroom Now!" Harry knew from experience that it would best for his health if he made himself scarce and quick so he did as he was told. Later when he was finished cleaning the bathroom and was walking back to his cupboard he passed uncle Vernon mumbling to himself while he was screwing a board over the mail slot "not in my house…. No freaky stuff in my house…. None of this "MAGIC" here!"

Over the next few days more and more of the strange letters kept coming for Harry in the strangest of ways until finally Uncle Vernon snapped and took them to a small house on the coast far from everything. Muttering madly to himself that nothing would find them here. It Just happened to be Harry's birthday the next day not that anyone in the "family" would care heck the only reason he knew when his birthday even was was from seeing it on his school forms. At 11:59 Harry was getting ready to wish himself a happy birthday when there was a monstrous knock on the door followed by it falling in. And a giant of a man appearing in the door frame

"O'Bugger, 'orry bout 'hat always 'orget how weak tis muggle stuff be." The giant hairy man apologizes in a rough thick accent, he easily bent down and picked up the heavy wood door and put it back in the frame.

The giants name ended up being Hagrid after he spent the next hour or so explaining to Harry how his parents had been a great witch and wizard respectively. And how they had stood defiant against the greatest evil wizard of the modern time Voldemort, but had been killed while trying to save Harry from him. And that when Voldemort had tried to kill Harry something had gone wrong and Harry was the only person to ever survive the killing curse which had somehow backfired and defeated Voldemort. Hagrid finished explaining all of this and then gave Dudley a little pigtail for stealing Harry's birthday cake. Harry fell asleep with a smile on his face that night thinking about his upcoming adventures as a Wizard, the knowledge that Dudley and the rest of the Dursleys were cowering in the next room in fear helped a little as well.

* * *

The next day Hagrid took Harry to London and to a shabby old pub called the leaky cauldron, where everyone seemed to know Harry and what had happened. After a time of greeting a bunch of these strangers and being repeatedly thanked, Hagrid finally seeing how uncomfortable Harry was with all this attention called out "'Aight all ye Harry has a lot of school shopping to be doing."

"Thanks Hagrid, I'm not a big fan of crowds or a lot of attention." Harry softly told the big man.

"It's alright Harry it's been a lot to take in for ye. First stop is Gringotts to get some money out of yer vault"

When they walked up to one of the tall counters a rather grumpy looking goblin peered down at them. "What can I help you with today?" he sneered disapprovingly at Hagrid.

"Mr. Potter here would like to access his vault" Hagrid responded proudly looking down at the small boy.

The goblin then looked at Harry for the first time. "Ahh yes Mr. Potter let me get your account manager." He got up from his desk and quickly and went through one of the many doors behind him returning moments latter with a much less grumpy looking Goblin.

"Ahhh Mr. Potter what a pleasure to have you return to us if you'll follow me into my office we have much to go over." When both he and Hagrid approached the goblins small smile faltered for a second. "Unfortunately as you are not his legal guardian Mr. Hagrid you must wait out here I assure Harry will be safe and it shan't take us long to cover what must be covered at this time."

"Ahh no problem, I got some official Hogwarts business to attend to he as well." He turned back to the original goblin "I got a letter here from Dumbledore about you know what in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

"Right this way Mr. Potter." the goblin gestured for Harry to follow him to one of the doors. "I'm Griphook I have been the Potters account manager for 45 years, I've very sorry for the loss of your parents, they were truly kind people."

"Thank you Mr. Griphook" Harry said as he took a seat in a small but well appointed office.

"I Suppose you don't have your wand yet do you?" At Harry's shake of his head in the negative he continued "Well then I guess we'll have to do this the more unsavory way." With some resignation he turned around and grab a small bowl and what appeared to be a small knife from the bookshelf behind him. "Don't worry Mr. Potter, this is just so we can ensure you are who you claim to be so we may allow you access to your vaults, normally an inspection of your wand will suffice. But as you don't have one yet we must do it this way, all that we require is you to give a drop of blood into this bowl with this knife."

Harry nodded and quickly and carefully pricked the tip of his thumb with the knife and allowed a drop of his blood to fall into the bowl. As soon as the blood hit the bowl it dispersed in to a fine mist and swirled around in a series of patterns which seemed to satisfy Griphook.

"Yes now that that is done we may continue, unfortunately we cannot read your parents will one of your guardians is with you. The list of guardians in order of you wishes guardians are as follows Firstly Serius Black, Second Remus Lupin and finally Mr. and Mrs. Longbottoms. Until the will is read we cannot allow you access to any of your other vaults except the one that was set aside for you school funds."

"I understand sir, would you be able to help me track these people down in order to see if any of them would be able to attend the will reading with me?"

"Yes yes of course, I will find the locations of all of them and owl you with the information I uncover as soon as possible"

"Thank you, may we go to the school fund vault so I can get my school supplies?"

"Yes , yes if you'll follow me I have an express cart to all of your families vaults this way."

Harry was quite overwhelmed with all of this information he had just found out that his parents had planned far enough ahead to have multiple people lined up to take care of him if something had happened, and even set up a school fund before their death. The fact that there were four guardians setup spoke volume to Harry about how dark of time it must truly have been, he also found it funny that the Dursleys weren't on the list of guardians. So his parents hadn't even wanted him to live with them in the first place. In order to prevent his mind from spinning to much with all of this new information he decide to ask his account manager more questions, as long as he had someone willing to answers his questions in a straightforward manner it seemed a waste to not take full advantage of it.

"Mr. Griphook sir, you said that you had been my families account manager for 45 years What does an account manager do exactly?"

"Ahh excellent question Mr. Potter. Most of the influential wizarding families who have amassed a significant amount of wealth are assigned a account manager to ensure they have a single point of contact in the back. And to ensure that any needs they have are taken care of quickly and with discretion. And in unfortunate circumstances like yours we step into manage any and all investments that the family may have to ensure that they continue to provide the maximum return on investments. In your parents case they had given me permission to invest a sizable amount of money into what ever I seen fit long before the war, we Goblins are known for our shrewdness in business. So I can proudly say that I have continued to re-invest and grow your families wealth quit effectively over the years, the period immediately following You-Know-Who's death was quite a profitable time indeed."

Harry sat back and enjoyed the crazy cart ride down to his school fund vault and mulled this information over in his head from the sound of things his family was relatively well off which was good because harry had no way of making any money until he graduated for school. He had never really dreamed of being rich or anything like that he'd never owned anything new in his life, everything that he had ever had was ether Dudley's (which was usually broken or way to big for him) or some sort of second had, the dursley's would never have even thought of wasting their money on him. All of this made what he found in his school fund vault quite shocking for when Griphook opened the door there were stacks of gold coins piles of silver coins and mounds of little bronze ones. "Woah" was the most eloquent thing he could come up with.

"Ahh this my young Mr. Potter is nothing, this is just your school fund."

"Umm i'm not sure how much to take and i didn't bring anything to carry it in." He admitted embarrassedly.

"Not to worry, here this coin purse has some enchantments on it one to prevent pickpockets, another one to reduce the weight, a silencing charm and a few others but those are the main ones that will matter to you." The goblin handed over a small coin purse that easily fit in the palm of Harry's had. "As for how much to take lets take a look at your school supply list." Harry handed the list over. "Mmmhh hmmm, well you should be able to pick everything up on this list for two or three Galleons, you might use another Galleon at school ." Seeing the confused look on the boys face. "The gold ones are Galleons the silver are Sickles and the Bronze are Knuts."

Harry nodded and went into the vault thinking about what the goblin had said and looking around the room he didn't see how he could even make a dent in the amount of money in this vault in the next seven years of Hogwarts. Thinking about what the goblin had said Harry bent down and scooped four hand fulls of each coin in to the bag. Knowing that this amount would be more than enough to last him probably all seven years but, also thinking that as long as he had this money he would buy himself some new clothes that actually fit. Looking into the bag he seen that it had automatically sorted the coins into their own little section of the bag and that it still weighed almost nothing.

"I need some clothes that fit and i'd like to buy some additional books to help me learn about all the things that I don't know about the wizard world." He sheepishly explained to the goblin as he left the vault. The goblin smiled at him and nodded.

"Is that all that you require today Mr. Potter?"

"Yes I believe it is."

"Excellent, let us go and rejoin Mr. Hagrid so you can get you shopping done"

The ride back to the office was quite and they re-entered the main part of the bank the seen Hagrid sitting on one of the benches in the waiting area.

"Thank you again Mr. Griphook."

"No problem Mr. Potter I'll owl you with the information you requested as soon as I acquire it."

Harry nodded and turned back to Hagrid "All set Hagrid, did you get done what you needed to?"

"Sure did." he patted his chest. "Well lets get started on that shopping list eh?"

The rest of the day was spent going from shop to shop picking up everything on his list which included things like robes and a cauldron for potions and harry's favorite his own magic wand! Hagrid even surprised harry by buying him a beautiful snowy owl.

"Thank you so much! But you didn't need to do that Hagrid." Harry felt bad because he was sure the giant of a man didn't have much in the way of money, while harry had more than he could ever know what to do with.

"Well I know I didn't have to 'arry but i wanted to I can't imagine you got to much from those lumps of muggles, you deserve a good birthday present." He said with a small sad smile.

"Well actually I've never got a present ever actually, so thank you very much." A look of pure pity and sadness crossed the giants face and he looked away quickly.

"Well that's all changed now 'arry" he said though it sounded like he was choking back some lump in his throat.

Later that afternoon they were sitting in a secluded booth at the Leaky Cauldron when Hagrid announced something that made Harry's stomach drop. "Here's your ticket back to the Dursleys and another one to Kings Station on the first of September."

"I can't go back there Hagrid, I I just can't." Harry started shaking.

A look of pure caring crossed his face and he shook his head "Alright 'arry we'll get you a room here at the Leaky Cauldron for the next month and a half until term starts I'll come by once a week to check on you. I'll also owl professor Dumbledore so he know where ye be stayin" After they finished their dinner they went up and talked to the bartender Tom, who also happened to own the place and made the arrangements and Harry paid for his room. Hagrid helped him get settled in and gave Harry some tips on how to care for his new owl that he had named Hedwig. After Hagrids tear filled goodbye Harry laid down on his bed and broke into the biggest smile of his life, he was a wizard and he wouldn't have to seen the dursley's for a long time! He thought about his new life and for the first time his future maybe the saying is true out of the darkest darks come the brightest brights.


	2. First Days

**Chapter 2**

Over the next month and a half Harry read more and learned more than he had in all of his years at "muggle" school. He had read through each of his required course books twice in the first week and a half, the first time soaking up as much as he could, then he re-read them taking careful notes. He was not going to let his parents down, he was going to study harder than he ever had before and try to honor their memory and sacrifice. The next couple of weeks was full of him reading any and all books that he could about the wizarding world he could get his hands on. He went back to Flourish and Blotts so frequently that by this point the owners knew Harry not just because he was the "boy-who-lived" but because he was the "boy-who-read" as they put it.

Harry had ate this much in his life ether, rather than sneaking scraps of food as he cooked it for the dursley's, he was able to eat whole meals and best of all deserts and he didn't even have to cook it! He would never had to cower in fear of the next beating, get locked in the cupboard for days and he would never have to run from dudley and his friends again. He woke up everyday excited that he was one day closer to a whole new life away from fear and sadness, one day closer to Hogwarts. When the morning of the first finally rolled around Harry was ready, both from all the studying and recuperating physically he had done.

After the long Taxi ride to Kings Cross with a very confused taxi drive, who couldn't understand why a fourteen year old boy was traveling around london with a huge trunk and a owl alone but, he didn't ask to many questions he just kept giving harry weird looks. Traffic had been awful on their way there and when Harry walked into the station he panicked when he seen the clock reading ten till. He couldn't seem to find platform 9 ¾, he was about to start tapping on random bricks like Hagrid had to open the door to Diagon Alley. Harry stopped pulling his wand out when a plump redheaded woman corralling four equally red haired boys pushing large trunks like Harry's walked by, the lady was complaining about the station being packed with muggles.

Harry hurried to follow them to see how they got to the platform and his jaw hit the floor when he watched the twins run straight through the wall between platforms 9 and 10. "Umm excuse me ma'am how do you, umm."

"Ahh first year is it dear?" Harry nodded dumbly. "Well no worries it's Ron's first year too." she gestured to her youngest son.

"All you have to do is walk straight at the wall right there, best to get a little bit of a run at it so you don't stop. Go ahead dear."

"Thank you, ma'am." and with that Harry did exactly as she described and jogged straight at a wall, just because some stranger had told him to, was he daft or what. When he made it through the sight that was before him made his jaw drop again. There was a huge old burgundy steam engine connected to at least thirty cars but it was the people that shocked Harry the most there were every size and shape. His eyes first landed on a couple in sharp black almost formal looking robes standing stiffly near a boy Harry's age. The boys slicked back blonde almost white hair matched his father's perfectly, the whole family seemed to sneer down on everyone else like it pained them to be amongst such rift raft. There was an elderly lady wearing the most ridiculous swan hat fussing over a rather plump and awkward looking boy. There were others as well, from a family in bright purple robes soothing s pair of twin girls, to what looked like family of muggles. They were a kind and gentle looking family in normal muggle clothes looking around almost as shocked and astounded as harry must have, while their daughter seemed to keep a constant stream of facts and words flowing at them.

Harry was so distracted looking around that he almost got ran over by the tall red haired boy name Ron and his mother and surprisingly, a cute Red Haired girl who must've been his sister. "Made it alright dear?" She smiled at him with kind eyes. But Harry barely understood what she had said because he was so distracted by this girl. She seemed so familiar like he knew her from somewhere or something but that was impossible, she must've just had one of those beautiful faces.

"Uhh, yes thank you again." He managed to get out.

She looked around "Are you supposed to be meeting someone here dear or...?" She trailed off uncertainty.

"O no i'm here alone."

She looked at him with concern, obviously thinking what horrible parents would ship their child off to school without even saying goodbye.

"Well in that case how about we help you get settled?" she offered helpfully.

"Umm yes that would be very nice indeed, thank you."

"Well I'm Mrs. Weasley, i've already introduced you to Ron he'll be in your year." Ron waved awkwardly. "This is Ginny she'll be starting next year." She gestured to the cute shy girl at her side, and Harry's eyes were once again drawn to the girl, rather than the orangish red of the rest of the family her's was a deep red with big brown eyes. Ginny waved shyly quickly looking down at her feet. "Fred, George come over here." She called loudly. "These two are my twins and Percy is around here somewhere he is one of the Prefects he's probably already helping getting everyone else settled." she said proudly, the twins rolled their eyes at the mention of him being a prefect. "Fred George can you help Ron and…" she looked at Harry uncertainty.

"O, Harry, Harry Potter." he offered with a smile.

Their reactions were priceless, Ginny honestly squeaked and went around to hide behind her mother now officaly in full shy mode. Ron's jaw dropped so far you'd have thought him part boa constrictor, Fred and George looked at each other and simultaneously said "No." and "Way."

Mrs. Weasley bless her managed to just looked shocked for a second before recovering quickly. "Well Harry it's very nice to meet you. Now Fred, George, help Harry and Ron get settled on the train. And you three come back out here once your done, I need to talk to you."

After getting settled in an empty compartment at the back of the train Harry watched the Weasley boys go back to their mother. He felt bad listening in on their family conversation but he wanted to know what people said about him. "Bloody hell, mum can you belive that was Harry Potter!"

"Language Ron! Yes I can now I forbid you three from pestering with questions about you-know-who or anything like that do you understand me?" She looked at each one of the sternly.

"Yes mother," They chimed sheepishly.

"Good, now go get on before the train leaves without you, and don't forget to owl me when you get there."

"Mum, May I go see Harry again?" Ginny asked quietly.

"No Ginny you may not, he's not the boy in your books or an animal to see in a zoo, ok? He's probably very lonely and nervous right now."

"Yes mum." She looked down ashamed of herself.

The train started moving shortly after that and Harry seen the twins leaning out the window yelling goodbye to their little sister, promising to send her a toilet seat which caused her to laugh and cheer up as she waved goodbye to them.

Ron joined him in his compartment later saying the rest of the train was full. It was awkward at first but soon they were talking like old friends Ron found all the Muggle things Harry talked about extremely interesting and Harry couldn't believe all the magic things he heard from Ron. A rather high strung bushy haired girl named Hermione popped in once and talked to them for a bit before continuing to look for a boy named Neville's toad. A little later the boy with the slicked back hair, who's name Harry couldn't hardly believe Draco Malfoy stuck his head in and immediately reminded Harry of Dudley and the other bullies from school, so Harry made a note to avoid him.

The rest of the day went by in a blur of activity from crossing the lake into the castle, to getting sorted into Gryffindor, it was a great day and followed by a great week. Harry and Ron quickly became fast friends. The only dark spot on his time at short time at Hogwarts so far had been the potions professor Snape seemed to hate Harry just because of who he was. But despite the professor always asking Harry the hardest questions thanks to his hard work studying both before the term had started and keeping up with the studying, Harry was able to answer them all easily earning approving looks from Hermione who was rapidly getting to be known as the smartest student in their grade.

About a week into the term Harry got a surprise in the form of a letter, it was the first one he had gotten, ever. Ron got them frequently and even Hermione's muggle parents had gotten an owl to stay in touch with her. Harry had always felt a little lonely during the mail time at breakfast, but he made sure to never show it so the others wouldn't feel bad for him, pity was not something Harry liked. So this simple little letter filled him with happiness it didn't even matter who it was from the simple act that some one had thought about him enough to write him made him happier than he'd felt since the day he left the dursley's. When he opened it the soft scent of summer time flowers caught him off guard.

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Hi, I'm Ginevra Weasley (but please call me Ginny, Ginevra sounds like and eighty year old lady). You might not remember me but I meant you on platform 9 ¾ I was with my mum when she had Fred and George help you onto the train. Well any way this is quite embarrassing to be writing to you after the way I acted, I can't believe I actually squeaked and hid behind my mum like and eleven year old! I promise you i'm not usually like that, but i've read a lot about you, you're quite famous in our world and i've always found the books about you quite fascinating. Anyway enough sounding like a fan girl, i'm writing to you because Ron said that you and him have become like best friends, which is great because as much of a git as he can be sometimes, he is a great friend._

 _But if you and him are going to be friends I have to get over my nervous of talking to you, Ron also said that you never get letters which sounded very sad to me, so I thought if you wanted me to I could maybe send you letters. I mean i'm sure getting letters from you best friends little sister isn't that exciting but who knows we might even become friends too._

 _So I guess i'll tell you a little bit about myself, well i'm thirteen, I really, really love flying. Don't tell my brothers but i've been sneaking out at night to ride their brooms around while everyone is asleep since I was six. I'd love to play chaser for the Holyhead Harpies someday, but definitely on the house quidditch team (hopefully I get Gryffindor like the rest of my family and you)._

 _I think i'm most excited for charms next year when I get to Hogwarts, teal is my favorite color. (I hate pink!) What is your favorite subject so far? Do you have any questions about the wizarding world? Ron said you grew up without having any idea magic was real. Oh and what's your favorite color? Well I got to go and help mum de-gnome the garden. If you want me to keep writing just send me an owl back if not that's ok too. Have a great time Harry._

 _Yours, Ginny._

 _P.S. I'm not sure if anyone told you how to send mail with an owl all you have to do is attach the letter to the owls leg, and tell them the name of the person who you want to get the letter and the owl will find them._

Harry was finishing reading the letter when Ron finally entered the great hall (he was awful about waking up at a reasonable time).

"What are you smiling about this early on a day with potions?"

"I got a letter!" Harry exclaimed happily.

"Who from?" His interest peaked since he knew Harry never got any.

"Umm, well, your sister actually." Harry managed with a small smile.

"UGGGHHH, she didn't! Don't worry about it Harry i'll send mum a letter this afternoon and tell her to make Ginny stop bugging you." He slumped his head down in his hands.

"No it's alright it's actually nice to get mail for a change I don't mind."

Ron looked at him quizzically. "you sure?"

"Yeah it's ok I don't mind."

"Ok if you're sure but if she gets to annoying just let me know ok?"

"Will do"

The rest of the day Harry had a harder time than normal focusing in class, he kept thinking about what he was going to write back to Ginny. He ended up writing a letter to her three times ripping it up each time unhappy with how it came out. But finally on the fourth time Harry was happy with it, so on Sunday after getting lost in the castle on the way to the owlery he sent Hedwig out with her first letter.

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I would really enjoy it if you kept writing letters to me. Don't tell Ron, but it does get kind of lonely watching everyone else get letters and never getting any of my own. And about the train station don't worry about it I thought it was a cute squeak hahaha. But honestly that isn't a big deal compared to how i've been greeted before, i've had people get down on their hands and knees to thank me for something I had no control over, that's freaky. I can already tell that me and Ron are going to be great friends, once again don't tell him but he'll be my first friend ever, I wasn't allowed to have any growing up._

 _Getting letters from you Ginny is plenty exciting to me, i've never gotten a letter before except the Hogwarts acceptance letter but that one doesn't really count. So as long as you're enjoying sending me letters i'm sure we can become good friends. Charms is actually my favorite class so far, i'm sure you'll love it next year. It's so fun getting to learn how to actually use magic, I know a lot of the others think it's boring but I made a feather fly yesterday! I know it's kind of lame to get that excited over something that simple but all of this is so amazing I can hardly believe it. The only class i'm not enjoying is potions but that's mainly because Professor Snape seems to hate me for no reason, he keeps trying to trip me up, to bad for him I studied like crazy right before I got here._

 _I would tell you a little about myself but since you've read books about me i'm sure you know things about my history that I don't even know hahaha. But on that note I just want to say i'm not "Harry Potter the-boy-who-lived" i'm just Harry ok? I'm really excited for flying lessons next week, I never would've guessed you to be the sneaking out at night rebel type from how shy you seemed, but I wish you could show me some tips and tricks on flying so I don't look like a fool in front of the class. My favorite color is deep red and i'll make sure I remember that you really like pink if I ever need to get you a present. Hope you have a great day Ginny!_

 _Your Friend, Harry_

 _P.S. If Ron says I said I don't want letters ignore him he got all weirded out when I told him you sent me a letter. Thanks again for the letters Ginny! Also what is De-Gnoming a garden?_

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the cliff hanger/abrupt end, I was really struggling on how to end this chapter with how I have the next one set up. Any thoughts on the letter thing? I'm thinking i'll use it a decent amount for the first year. Also if anyone is interested in helping me with editing or proof reading the chapters that'd be awesome since that seems to take me the longest. Leave a comment I really enjoy reading them and thanks for reading!**


	3. Quidditch

A/N: Thanks for all the follows, favorites and reviews guys it really means a lot! Updates will be coming weekly so I can ensure the story is going where I want it, so don't worry that i've abandoned it! Also I wanted to explain one thing that was brought up to me in one of the reviews. Yes Harry's behavior is relatively normal despite the physical and emotional abuse he's been through, and that's because he is choosing to repress those memories and forget about that time in his life as best he can (not healthy I know this will come up) so he can be "normal" like the rest of the kids. I'll try to do a better job of showing that in the future but just remember one of Harry's biggest strengths is his ability to love and see the best in people and to always try and do the right thing. His traumatic past will definitely come up in some big ways throughout the story and drive his actions in those situations. Also I want to give a MASSIVE shout out to my beta GinnyPotter6891, who really helped me clean up a lot of the formating/grammar issues and clarifying some confusing bits. Thanks so much GP! And thank you to everyone reading this, I hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 3

The next few weeks flew by faster than a golden snitch. Harry loved flying; it was by far his favorite part of being a wizard, but Quidditch practice had the unfortunate side effect of bringing up some of his past that he would rather forget. When the twins flew by Harry with their beaters bats raised, chasing a bludger, Harry froze and almost fell off his broom as images of uncle Vernon coming at him with his baseball bat overwhelmed him. This happened enough that Wood came up to him after practice and asked if he was alright. Harry explained he was just very jumpy and that he'd get over it. But as the rest of the team was leaving the locker room he pulled Fred and George aside. "Hey guys can I, erm, ask you for a favor?"

"Sure how can we-"

"-Help the mighty Harry Potter?" they chimed with brilliant smiles, being sure to tease him. He didn't mind, though; they had been very nice to him so far.

"Well, first you guys have to promise this won't leave the three of us."

They became more interested. "We accept your terms." the replied simultaneously.

"I need to get over my fear of people flying around me with the beaters bats, so can you guys meet me down here on the nights we don't have practice and just fly around me and at me while waving your bats? And at practice could you make sure to fly around me a bunch?"

"Why would you be afraid of the bats?"

"Yeah, it's a massive foul if someone accidentally hits someone with one."

"It's not a big deal and I'd rather not talk about, ok? Can you guys help me or not?"

"Sure we can-"

"-No big deal."

"Alright thanks guys - see ya tomorrow."

Harry turned and left the locker room, missing the looks of confusion and concern on the twins' faces, but thankfully they didn't press the issue. After a week or so Harry still flinched internally at the bats but was able to put it out of his mind during practice and was confident that he'd be fine during the games.

Ginny was so excited for him when he told her that he got picked to be the new seeker she was even trying to get her mum to bring her to the first game. During their letters they talked about everything under all those stars Harry was constantly filling out charts on. It was honestly surprising how easy it was. Ginny somehow always managed to make Harry laugh or smile with her letters, even when Malfoy was being extra cruel to Harry, not that anything he said could bother Harry after what he'd heard his whole life. Harry even found himself opening up and talking to her about how stressful it was, having to always be "The Great Harry Potter" and having people stare and whisper about him.

But once again Ginny was there for him and promised that it'd die down after a while once people got used to it, and of course she was right. As the Halloween feast approached he was settling into a nice routine. Harry had a massive grin on his face as he wrote his next letter to Ginny the night of the Halloween feast.

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 _Dear Ginny,_

 _So the craziest thing happened tonight it was the Halloween feast but the crazy thing was that a Troll got into the school! I dragged Ron with me to find our classmate and warn her since Ron's big mouth was the reason she was crying in the bathroom anyway, plus I couldn't imagine something happening to someone if I had the chance to stop it. Well when Ron and i found her she was being attacked by a three meter tall troll! So I jumped on it's back to distract it while Ron lifted its club up with a spell and dropped it on its head and knocked it out! It was crazy and the most intense thing i've ever done but it was such a rush._

 _And I guess fighting a troll is one of those things that makes you friends with someone instantly, because now Hermione is one of our friends too. She's kind of like a bossy older sister which is great for Ron because she has taken over helping him with his studies since I've been so busy with practice. Not only is Wood having us do flying practice two nights a week, he is having us doing physical training three nights a week! I'm sore in places I didn't know I could be! But I'm enjoying getting into better shape and I actually like running. It's quite relaxing and gives me time to clear my head. Sorry for the short letter - I just had to tell you about that. I look forward to hearing from you and I hope you had a Spooktacular Halloween._

 _Your Friend,_

 _Harry_

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 _Dear Harry,_

 _Harry Jonathan Potter! (I'm sure that's not your real middle name but it sounded good.) How could you run around looking for someone when there was a troll loose? You could've been hurt! I mean, it was incredibly brave of you (and also really dumb). But I guess I shouldn't be surprised too much - you do catch me as the kind of guy who would think of everyone else before even considering the danger to himself. But do me a favor and try to be at least somewhat careful ok? Anyway, enough being a worry wart - what was the troll like? I assumed it smelled really bad? You have to be the only person in the world to get a piggy back ride from a troll, hahaha!_

 _It's great to hear that Hermione will keep Ron at least somewhat focused on his studies while you're busy preparing for the game. How are the practices going? Had issues with anything so far? I'm sure the bludgers would be scary having them fly all over the place, but at least you got the twins as your beaters - they are the best in the school. I never thought about working out as being part of Quidditch but I guess it makes sense to be in good shape and have lots of stamina for the long games; maybe I'll start running, too. It does sound nice having some alone time from Mum. Being the only one left at home is quite tiring. She is always hovering over me; but on the positive side, I've talked her into teaching me some simple easy charms and spells. But unfortunately they've been kind of boring so far, like a dish cleaning charm and one to do laundry. I think she's trying to bore me with them so i'll stop asking but that's not going to happen, hahaha._

 _Yours,_

 _Ginny_

 _PS: A spooktacular Halloween? Who says that? But you actually had me laughing at that, but yeah I did have a good Halloween thankfully not as exciting as yours. It sounds like you did, too. Talk to you later Harry._

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He smiled the whole time he read the letter, he'd have to remember to tell her his real middle name so she wouldn't keep making up ones for him. But every time he reread it, he could see she was worried he could've gotten hurt. She cared about him. It made him feel warm inside to know someone cared enough about him to worry; he'd never had someone care about him that much and it felt great. He almost told her that but chickened out as he was writing his next letter, He did go into his first Quidditch game with a spring in his step and planning on winning so he could tell Ginny all about it.

After they kicked off at the start of the game he soared straight up, loving the power and responsiveness of his brand new Nimbus 2000. Somehow Professor McGonagall had gotten it for him shortly after he made the team, and he loved it. Harry was circling high above the match following Wood's plan to stay out of the intense play as long as he could, which was working; he only had to dodge two bludgers sent his way, and the beaters bats didn't even faze him anymore. While he was scanning for the snitch he spotted something that made his heart leap, and it wasn't gold. It was a rich, dark red and flowing in the wind - Ginny had made it to the game! She was with her Mum in the parents' section holding a sign with "GO HARRY!" on it. Harry couldn't help it he gave her a quick wave and a flip on his broom. Harry smiled as he seen her wave back and then scolded himself and started searching for the snitch again, he was not going to look like a fool in front of Ginny, he was going to catch the golden snitch. A second later all hell broke loose.

His broom gave a few wild bucks and started trying to shake him off, while it slowly started to climb higher and higher. After fighting to stay on for a while, the broom gave a great shake and Harry slipped and was left hanging below it. The crowd gasped in fright. While hanging the under his broom high above the field a few thoughts crossed Harry's mind: first, he wished he had told Ginny how much her letters meant to him and how much he enjoyed talking to her. Second, he hoped she would look away. He didn't want her to see him fall to his death. And third, damn,there's the snitch, too bad his broom's freaking out. Then as suddenly as it started it stopped Harry gave a great heave, hauled himself back onto the broom, and shot straight down as fast as his Nimbus would carry him, one thought on his mind - get the snitch. And he did; as he yanked his broom up inches from the grass and reached, out his grip slipped and he tumbled to the ground. The stadium went silent, waiting to see if he was ok. He stood up coughed twice into his hands and raised the snitch high for everyone to see. The crowd went wild and people swarmed the pitch. He was patted on the back and punched in the arm. So many people were jostling and congratulating him but none of that mattered. A red blur collided with him and almost knocked him over.

"HARRY JAMES POTTER, don't ever scare me like that again!" It was a sweet and beautiful voice filled with fear. It was also the longest sentence he had ever heard from that voice. He hugged her back.

"I'm sorry, Ginny. I never wanted to scare you. I just wanted to catch the snitch since you were watching." he replied softly, knowing she'd hear him over the crowd.

"OI, get off him!" Ron called. This snapped both of them back to reality and they stepped away from each other awkwardly, both blushing. Ginny's blush was quite pretty as her cheeks flushed a bright pink crimson which highlighted the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. Ron and Hermione had finally fought their way to them. Harry caught Hermione giving himself and Ginny a strange look but he ignored it. Ron seemed to just seen his baby sister annoying his mate nothing more Harry had never been happier how oblivious his friend was sometimes. They whispered quietly about how it had been Snape who had been cursing Harry's broom. They brought Ginny up to speed after Harry's insistence about what they suspected was going on with Fluffy and the trap door. After they revealed this all this to Ginny, Mrs. Weasley was calling from the back of the crowed that it was time to go to. She blushed and gave Harry a quick hug

"Bye Harry."

"Bye Ginny," he managed as she pulled away and slipped through the crowd. Ron was too busy going on and on about the match to notice, but Harry saw Hermione giving him a look again. He figured she was going to be pestering him with questions sooner or later so he nodded at Ron and shook his head 'no'. She seemed to understand and nodded. The next night while Harry was helping Ron finish the assignments for Transfiguration, Hermione sat down at their table and handed Harry a small notebook.

"Here are those notes you asked for Harry," she said as she sat down across from him. Seeing his confused look, she looked pointedly at the notebook again. He took the notebook slowly and opened it to the first page, seeing it blank he was about to say something when suddenly words started to appear.

Hermione- _I enchanted these notebooks to act kind of like a walkie-talkie, what you write in one appears for a short while in the other. They only work or short distances though._

Harry- _This is so cool, it's like instant mail!_

Hermione _-Instant Mail,_ _I like that but anyway. I figured this way I can grill you in front of Ron, and he'll get less flustered with his homework if he thinks we're still doing some ourselves._

Harry- _Good thinking and whatever would you like to grill me about?_ He gave her an innocent smile.

She looked at him with a 'you know what you did' look.

Hermione- _You know exactly what I'm talking about. Care to explain Ginny's reaction at the Quidditch game?_

Harry sighed knowing this was going to be a long conversation.

Harry- _She was really concerned about her brother's best friend?_

Hermione- _Hahaha no, I was really concerned about you and I didn't almost knock over half the school in a rush to hug you._

Harry stared at his notebook for a while. This was a more in-depth question than she realized. She was asking him to define their relationship, which was something he wasn't sure he wanted to or could do.

Harry- _Well, you know how I've been getting letters pretty much this whole year?_

Hermione- _Well yeah, we all have_.

Harry- _Hermione, my "family" would never write to me._

She winced at that. Harry didn't blame her that she forgot how horrible his family was. He never talked about them and no one knew exactly how bad it was, since he did everything to forget about all of that while he was at Hogwarts. He wanted to be normal here. He had even asked Professor McGonagall how to perform a silencing spell after his nightmares had woken up his roommates a few too many times. She seemed to pity him so she had taught it to him under the strict agreement that he only use it for that.

Hermione- _So that still doesn't answer my question about why she behaved like she did._

Harry- _Well she's been the one writing me letters this whole time._

She looked quite surprised at that bit of information.

Hermione- _How did that start?_

Harry- _She kind of freaked out on the platform when we were getting on the Hogwarts express, when she found out who I was. Then once Ron and I became such good friends, she decided that she needed to get over her shyness of talking to me since I'd be around for awhile._

Hermione- _And?_

Harry- _And what?_

Hermione- _That seemed like she was WELL past shyness._

Harry- _Well, yeah, we've been talking for almost three months now a letter or two a week, so we've gotten kind of close, I guess._

Hermione- _Kind of close, you guess?_

Harry- _I'm not sure what you're hinting at here. We haven't labeled this or talked about anything serious so if that's what you're looking for I don't have the answers. Hell, Hermione, before this year I'd never even had friends before. I'm not ready to dig too deep into this. I don't want to ruin it. Reading her letters is one of the best parts of my week. Do I think she is beautiful? I sure do. Did that hug make my stomach flutter? Yes it did, ten times more than the dive. Am I scared to death to tell her any of this or ask her if she feels the same way? Oh, God, yes._

He sighed with a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. She raised an eyebrow at him.

 _Hermione-Kind of close, you guess?_ They both broke into big smiles.

Hermione- _It's ok, Harry, you don't need to explain it to me. I was just making sure you had realized your feelings for her and realized that she has feelings for you, too. I get you wanting to take it slow and I honestly think that that is a really good idea. She's a great, sweet girl and is/will be really good for you someday. Whenever the conversation comes up about what you are, just explain how new you are to all of this and that you don't want to mess anything up but that you definitely feel something for her._

Harry- _Thanks, Hermione, I will. Oh, and, for the love of God, let's keep this between you and me ok?_

She snorted.

Hermione- _Yeah, that's probably a good idea._

Harry- _That felt surprisingly good to get off my chest._

Hermione- _I'm sure seemed like you had a lot bottled up there_.

She smiled at him.

Harry- _Sooo, ummm?_

It was at this moment when Harry realized he had never had a one on one real talk with Hermione. Ron and he had had tons of "guy time". And Harry felt bad that Hermione was one of his best friends, and there was so much about her that he didn't know. So for the next forty-five minutes while Ron finished his assignment they talked, really talked, and got to know each other a lot better than they had ever had before and it felt good. So from then on when they were done with their homework and helping Ron with his, they would spend a little bit chatting with each other. She grilled him about Ginny after every letter. he got. She seemed to think they was "super cute."

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A/N: Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it, i'd love to hear what you thought so shoot me a quick review! See you next time.


	4. End of the first year

**A/N: Here we go the end of the first year, I think this is honestly my best chapter yet, I was originally struggling with it quite a lot. A quick shout out to mdauben and scrappy8 for being awesome and being the first reviewers of this story and having reviewed every chapter so far, and of course a massive shout out to my beta GinnyPotter 6891 for having awesome editing skills. Without further ado I give you chapter 4, I hope you enjoy it and have a great day everyone.**

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 **Chapter 4**

As Christmas was fast approaching, Harry was trying to figure out how to get presents for his new friends. He knew this is what you did to show people that you care about them during the holiday season, and now that he had both friends and means he was very excited to get his them something great. He was relieved when he learned about mail-in catalogs: all you had to do was send the required money in with your order, and your owl brings back what you ordered in a day or two. It was amazing! Harry requested all sorts of catalogs of all different types so he could get something special for each of his friends. Ron was actually quite easy - Harry got him a nice set of keeper gloves so he could practice with better equipment this summer and maybe make the reserve team next year. Hermione was a bit more of a challenge; he knew it had to be something academic related because - let's be honest - learning was one of the most important parts of her life, but beyond that he was struggling. He eventually decided on a magically expandable bookshelf that was big enough to fit thirty or so books and with a couple taps from her wand would shrink down to the size of a shoe box. He was sure she'd love it.

Ginny and he hadn't talked about whether they were going to get each other gifts or not, but Harry decided that he wanted to get her something special because of how much her letters had meant to him. She was by far the hardest one to shop for. He decided that he was going to get her two things, one as a kind of joke and the other would be her real gift. He knew one thing for sure, her joke gift had to be bright pink - she would hate it! He found the perfect thing in one of the teen witch catalogs that he had gotten. He'd been very careful to only look through those catalogs in the privacy of his bed with the curtains drawn; the last thing he needed was two weeks of ribbing from Dean and Seamus. He found some knee high pink socks that would actually probably be kind of cute on her, but they fit his plan perfectly. Whether she would ever wear them or not didn't matter. Her real gift was the hard part. He knew what he really wanted to get her, which was a Nimbus like his, but he knew her family didn't know about her passion for flying and he wasn't going to out her like that. He also knew clothes and make up weren't really important to her so he ruled those out. He knew she really liked charms but a book didn't feel right ether. All girls weren't this hard to shop for, right? He'd figured Hermione's out pretty easily, so why was finding the right gift for Ginny so much harder, even though he knew her better? He was rapidly running out of time which was stressing him out and definitely not helping the situation.

Out of desperation he was leafing through one of the teen witch magazines again, and while glancing through the jewelry section something caught his eye. He smiled to himself. The necklace he was looking at was quite pretty. He could just see it on her in his mind. It would fit her perfectly. It was a simple necklace, it had a thin silver chain and a small pendent of turquoise, which was great because he knew her favorite color was teal from her first letter to him. The stone was about the size of his thumb with a thin piece of silver wire wrapping around the stone that seemed to melt into the stone toward the bottom. It was perfect; without a second thought he grabbed the required money from his Gringotts pouch and with a smile on his face sent Hedwig on her way.

The changes the holiday season brought to the school were shocking and beautiful. The great hall was decorated splendidly, with no fewer than twelve large Christmas trees and enough decorations to make most Christmas villages jealous. The sad part about these changes was that most of the school only had a couple of days to enjoy them before the break began and almost the entire school left. It was almost eerie to have the castle that was usually so full of students nearly deserted, but it was also a welcome relief to Harry. Yes, he loved being surrounded by the magic that filled Hogwarts, but the constant crowds of students and hustle and bustle was really draining on him. It was during one of his late night wanderings of the castle, which had rapidly became one of his favorite past times, that he came to the realization that he was an introvert who was happiest surround by a small group of close friends rather than the center of a large group of people.

This realization made him happy, discovering who he was as a person away from them and what they made him was another reason he loved Hogwarts and the magical world. He knew in time he'd heal from his past but it would take years. But now he had a future and friends who would be there for him so he knew he could do it. He stopped his musing when he came to a rather odd door. He looked around the corridor and realized that he was in a part of the castle he'd never been to before. It was such an odd door that Harry figured that he'd see what was behind it. When he pushed the large, heavy door open he was rather surprised to find an old and unused class room with an ancient, large mirror in the center. Something about the mirror drew him closer, and as he stepped in front of it his breath caught in his chest.

Standing behind him in the mirror were his mum and dad. She had his bright green eyes - or he had hers was more like it - and he had his dad's unruly black hair. He knew it was them deep down in his heart. He'd been given a picture of them by Hagrid shortly after he'd gotten to Hogwarts, so there was no doubt in his mind. He quickly looked behind him to make sure; he knew they were dead and not really there, but he had to look. His mother put her hand on the mirror Harry's shoulder as if to comfort him, and his father just gave him a look of pure fatherly love it made Harry's heart swell. After sitting in front of the mirror for longer than he would like to admit, Harry got up and wandered back to his bed, pondering the night.

The next night he headed back to the mirror straight away. As he settled down in front of the mirror he was thinking to himself how much he wished he could share this amazing revelation with someone. After all, here before him was not just his mum and dad but generations of his family going on as far as the mirror could show. The mirror shimmered slightly and the image changed; suddenly it was Ginny and he sitting on a couch across from his parents on a love-seat in what looked like a cozy living room. This image took his breath away again. He wasn't sure why, but this image caused warmth to spread in his chest. Harry sat there for who knows how long, much longer than the previous night, watching the mirror family talk and laugh in silence. The next night he settled down again to watch the family continue their conversation about who knows what, but after a while he heard someone cough behind him and he jumped up and drew his wand.

"It's okay Harry, my boy. It's just me," a grandfatherly voice soothed. As Harry's eyes adjusted to the darkness he realized he'd just pulled his wand on the most powerful wizard of the age and the school's headmaster, Albus Dumbledore.

"Good instincts there, Mr. Potter, and nice reaction time as well." The old man smiled and looked down at him with a twinkle in his light blue eyes.

"S-Sorry, sir, I know I'm not supposed to be out of bed." Harry shrunk in on himself slightly.

"Not to worry, young Harry. Many wizards with far more experience and wisdom than you have yet to acquire have fallen prey to the Mirror of Erised. Have you discovered its nature yet?" the man queried with a slight tilt of his head.

"Erm, well, at first I assumed that it showed the past when I saw my parents and family but..." He paused, unsure if he should continue; but at the reassuring look from the headmaster he pressed on, "but once the image changed, I believe that it shows us what we wish for?"

"It changed while you were looking at it? How interesting. May I ask what it changed to? It's quite rare for our deepest desire, for that is what the mirror shows us, to change, yet alone for someone as young as you, Harry."

"Erm, well, it, erm, shows Ginny and me sitting in a room talking and laughing with my parents." Harry finished the sentence while looking at the mirror, too embarrassed to look at the headmaster, so he missed the look of surprise that crossed the old man's face.

"Well, that does sound quite nice, Harry, but I regret to inform you that the mirror will be moved tomorrow to someplace else, and I would ask you to not go looking for it. As I said, many great wizards have wasted away in front of it. I believe you have great things in your future to look forward to, rather than looking into this dusty old mirror. I'll leave you with it here tonight, but please do get some sleep, my boy. Tomorrow is Christmas, a day full of love and promise."

With that the old man left, and Harry tried his best to burn the image in the mirror into his memory. Eventually he heeded the old man's advice and made his way back to the dorm to try and get some sleep for what was sure to be an exciting next day. The next morning, which was Christmas morning, Ron woke him yelling about presents. Harry knew that Christmas meant presents; but he had never gotten any himself, so he was not nearly as thrilled as his over-excitable friend. Bleary-eyed he slowly got up and put his glasses on, and when he looked at the base of his bed his heart jumped. "I have some too!"

"Well, duh." Ron rolled his eyes.

Harry decided not to tell him that he'd never gotten any before - no use ruining this happy day; so he pushed that thought out of his mind and focused on all the good in his life right now. It was amazing - he got so much stuff! He got candy from Ron and a book from Hermione. He was surprised to receive one of the family sweaters from Mrs. Weasley but also so happy she thought of him. It made him feel like he belonged. He also received an invisibility cloak with a cryptic note saying that it had been his father's and that the sender was just returning it to its rightful owner, which was rather odd but no less amazing. He and Ron were quite excited with all of the possibilities that it opened up for them.

But the gift he was the most surprised and happiest about was from Ginny. He had secretly hoped she would get him something as it meant she thought about him at least a little. He really hoped she liked what he got her. He couldn't wait for her next letter; he had sent her one the day before wishing her a Merry Christmas and agreeing that snow was by far the best form of water. Her present was small, and Harry hid it under his opened gifts as he wanted to open it in private. He didn't want Ron and the twins to ask who it was from, and it felt too special to open something from her in front of everyone.

Later that night after a strange but nice Christmas dinner with all six of the remaining students and a few of the teachers who had stayed seated around a small round table in the great hall, Harry finally got the chance to open it. He climbed onto his bed and pulled the curtains closed and opened it slowly and carefully. It was a matching hand-knit scarf and hat in the Gryffindor colors, the scarf was just slightly wider on one end than the other but it was perfect to Harry. They smelled faintly of flowers and a sweet summer breeze, a smell he'd began to associate with Ginny, as every letter she sent him had the same faint smell. There was a short letter inside and he opened it slowly, savoring the moment and trying to remember this moment as best he could for the future. These happy memories were so precious to him, and he never wanted to forget them.

 _Merry Christmas Harry,_

 _I really hope you like these. I know they're not very good. I just learned how to knit from Mum, it only took me five tries and two months to get it right, hahaha. But anyway, I hope these keep you warm and you have a great Christmas. Hopefully the boys are keeping you company. Maybe next year you can come to the Burrow for holiday break. I'll have to ask Mum, but I'm sure she'd love to have you._

 _Yours,_

 _Ginny_

Two days later her letter arrived, and Harry was excited but also nervous. What if she didn't like the necklace? What if she thought it was too much?

 _Dear Harry,_

 _Oh my gosh, thank you so much! You didn't have to get me anything, especially something like this! I really shouldn't keep it - Mum would be so mad if she knew that I got such an expensive gift, but I love it. I can't believe you remembered my favorite color (and, yes, the socks were a nice touch, honestly, I was happy with just them. You'll never hear me admit it out loud but they're pretty cute too. I'm even going to wear them around the house!). It really means a lot to me, not because it so beautiful and glamorous but because you put real thought into it, and that makes it special. And I'll let you know something, it's the first present that I've ever gotten from anyone outside my family._

 _Anyway, enough gushing about how amazing you are for getting it for me. How was Christmas at the school? Did the few of you have a good Christmas dinner? And, yes, we have ornaments that move around on their own, too. It's so cute how the little things about our world amaze you, Harry. Never lose that. We need more people to remember how lucky we are to have this magic in our lives and you're better at that than anyone I've met. As far as magical pets, I mean, I'm sure some people do. Kneazles are really popular and there's lots of other strange creatures out there. Look at Hagrid. After all, he has that three headed dog named Fluffy you told me about. I've always wanted a Kneazle, but we've never gotten one since we already have Errol and Scabbers. Speaking of owls, have I ever told you how beautiful Hedwig is? She's also probably the smartest owl I've ever met. She has this look of understanding in her eyes. Anyway, tell me all about your Christmas and what all you and Ron have discovered in your exploring sessions._

 _Yours,_

 _Ginny_

 _PS: Thank you again for one of the most amazing presents I've ever gotten. I'll never forget it. And I hope you have a very happy New Year!_

Reading her letter gave Harry the biggest smile he'd ever had. He'd happily spend all of the gold in his vault if it made Ginny half as happy as she sounded in her letter. Besides, it wasn't that expensive was it? He'd have to ask Hermione to explain the conversion of Muggle to wizard money so he had a better understanding of the prices of things. He'd also have to ask Ron what was expensive and not so he had a real wizard perspective. Not that money meant anything to Harry; what good were a bunch of coins in a vault?

 _Dear Ginny,_

 _I'm so glad you liked your present. When I saw it I immediately thought of you and had to get it for you. I love my new hat and scarf! They turned out amazing. All of your hard work really paid off! I can't believe you spent that much time and energy on something for me. It really means a lot to me, Gin. I'm sure you've guessed this, but this Christmas was the first one I've ever gotten any presents. And to get one so full of time and thought as yours really made it the best Christmas! And of course I remember your favorite and least favorite colors, who wouldn't? Plus I think teal would look great against your red hair, so if anyone should have that necklace, it should be you._

 _I'm glad you don't think my naivete of the wizard world is sad or pathetic like some people here do. I'm glad that I can make you smile even if it's because I don't know anything, hahaha. I've never heard of Kneazles before. I'll have to look them up and figure out what kind of pet they would be. I sure hope you're not like Hagrid and have a tendency for giant and dangerous pets! And, yes, Hedwig is a great owl, isn't she? I often times let her into the dorm room even though we're not supposed to. And a lot of the time I'll walk up to the owlery and talk to her for quite awhile so she's not lonely. Plus, I never have to worry about what I say. I know she'll always love me. That sounds really sad but I'm not really used to being able to do that you know. Honestly, I'm not used to talking much at all. It was usually better to stay quiet at the Dursleys' and hope they forgot about me._

 _Wow, sorry this letter got so sad and stuff but it's just so easy to talk to you, kind of like how it is with Hedwig, not that you're like an owl! Well, this letter is just getting worse and worse, hahaha. Ah, yes, Christmas dinner. It was really cool. Dumbledore made one small table for all of us to eat at. The food was great, but Ron said your Mum's was way better which I can't believe. And I'd love to go to the Burrow next year! If your Mum and dad don't mind that is. I mean, I feel bad that Ron and the twins stayed this year just because of me, plus that way I could see if Ron was right about your Mum's cooking. And, yeah, it's been fun exploring the castle. I've even been exploring it more at night after Ron goes to sleep, but I think I've seen most of the castle by now. Well, anyway, it's New Years Eve and I'm excited to see if Dumbledore does anything to the ceiling tonight, so I've got to go._

 _Yours,_

 _Harry_

 _Ps: I hope you had a great New Year, too, and thanks for making this past year as amazing as you have!_

The rest of Harry's first year went by in a blur, from saving the little baby dragon Norbert Hagrid had decided to try raising to getting attacked by something truly evil in the magical forest during detention. Ginny's letters, however, kept him grounded and focused despite all the craziness and studying. After exams had been completed, though, the bombshell dropped in their laps - it had been Professor Quirrell trying to get the sorcerer's stone! And they were the only ones who knew about it and who could stop him, so Hermione, Ron and Harry went after Quirrell .

Harry woke in the hospital stiff and sore to the sound of quiet sobs, and the feeling of a small soft hand clinging to his desperately, as if it might hold him in place to this world.

"Harry, come on, don't leave me not yet. I've barely gotten to know you! And I haven't even gotten to spend any time with you! You selfless jerk, why'd you have to go and be all noble and dumb and save the world again. Can't you just let someone else do the hard stuff and stay safe?"

He felt a couple wet spots hitting his hand. "But then I wouldn't get woken up by a sweet voice fussing over me," he croaked with a dry mouth and cracked his eyes to see a surprisingly distraught Ginny sitting next to his bed with a now-open mouth. She sniffed a couple times, trying to regain her composure.

She then opened her mouth a couple times to try and say something and failed. She gave up and mumbled, "Jerk," then looked down, not letting go of his hand and holding on to it just as tight, not wanting him to leave her again.

He squeezed her hand and she looked up at him, big, beautiful brown eyes stained red from the tears. "I'm sorry I made you worry, Gin." He squeezed her hand again, trying to relay all the emotions he could with that simple gesture.

"S'okay , just be more careful next time, okay? And drink this - you sound like a toad crawled into your throat." She grabbed the glass of water with her free hand, refusing to let go with her other one, and held the water up to his lips.

Harry would've been embarrassed to have anyone, but especially Ginny, having to help him like this, but he was so weak he couldn't sit up, let alone lift the glass himself. But as the cool water was refreshing his raw throat he thought that if anyone was going to take care of him, he was glad it was her.

"Thanks, Gin, I, erm, thanks." He wasn't sure what he wanted to say so he just ended it lamely and squeezed her hand, hoping she understood how much it meant to him that she was there. Judging by the smile and small blush that tinted her freckled cheeks he thought she at least partly understood.

"No problem, just rest and feel better, ok?"

He nodded weakly. His eyelids suddenly felt very heavy and fluttered closed again. He heard voices, saw shapes bustle around him, and caught snippets of conversations around him as he drifted in and out.

"Why'd he wake up when…."

"Time will tell…"

"Summer he can….."

"Molly, no, the wards….."

When Harry finally woke up again, Dumbledore was there. He explained what had happened with Voldemort and Professor Quirrell, that it was the power of his parents' love that had saved him once again. Love, it seemed to Harry, was a magic of its own and something he would have to think about over the summer. Dumbledore also studied the boy carefully as he explained that he'd been out for two days with nothing besides some small cuts and a case of extreme exhaustion and that he'd only woken when Dumbledore had called Mr. and Mrs. Weasley in to discuss Ron's minor injuries and Ginny had come to his bedside. This confused Harry. Why was it only when Ginny had come to his side had he woken? Dumbledore didn't have any explanation of his own to give, but Harry had a feeling there was an idea building in the old man's mind and that he just didn't feel like sharing it yet.

With one final letter to Ginny thanking her again for coming to see him and asking her to write to him over the summer, Harry boarded the Hogwarts Express back to London and back to the hell that was his "other life," as he had begun to think of it. He had tried so hard to be normal and to forget all the terrible things that had happened to him at the Dursleys' while he was at school, and he did for the most of the time. He wanted to honor his parents' sacrifice and have a good life and learn as much as he could while at Hogwarts, so he repressed all of the memories of the Dursleys' as best he could, and it worked - kind of. Besides hating small spaces, flinching at bats and the awful nightmares, he succeeded mostly. But he knew as he got off the train at Kings Cross that there would be no more hiding from it, no more pretending it didn't happen. He was going back to the darkness that was his other life. But he had a grim smile on his face, for now he knew there was a future, an end to his hell. There was a light at the end of this darkness, and it was the most beautiful fiery red light.

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 **A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and if you did please review! Also if anyone is interested here is the link to the playlist I listen to while writing, playlist?list=PLfUtuXb4Il9VD3gACwleahcakenZpGZA_**


	5. The Darkest Dark

A/N: The story will be deviating from the original books more from here on out, most major plot lines will stay the same with some changes. So here we go this is going to be the darkest chapter of the story so be prepared, it's not pretty.

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 **Chapter 5**

The summer after Harry's first year at Hogwarts was the worst time in his life. The emotional and verbal abuse was cranked up to a level that Harry didn't even know was possible. But that was easy enough to ignore and block out of his mind; he had years of practice after all. The beatings on the other hand, well, they were so much worse than before. Those he couldn't just block out of his mind; he tried to shut down his brain as much as possible during these frequent sessions but it only really helped the time go by faster. There was some good and bad news about the beatings; the good news was Harry had gotten over his fear of the bat. Now Uncle Vernon no longer got the pleasure of seeing him collapse into a ball from fear before beating him, the bad news he switched tools. His new favorite "educational tool" was a riding whip that he'd gotten for Dudley when the boy had wanted to learn how to ride horses. On the bright side Harry didn't have to worry about broken bones anymore, but he often times wished for the bat instead of the whip. The relatively rare broken bones were preferable to the long bloody lines which covered much of his back and arms. They stung horribly every time Harry would bend or twist whilst doing the mountain of chores he was expected to perform.

But what hurt Harry the most, far worse than anything his uncle or any of the other Dursleys could do to him was that his friends had forgotten about him. Ginny forgetting about him hurt the most. Somewhere deep in his mind he'd known that there was no way she could have cared about him the way he cared about her. Once he had accepted his lonely fate again the days ceased to matter; the beatings were the only marker of time. That was until the night of the twentieth. His uncle had wrenched his arm and pulled him to the side after breakfast that morning, Uncle Vernon informed him that if Harry messed this night up for him not only would he beat Harry within in an inch of his life, he'd lock him in his room for a week with no food. The wild look in his eye let Harry know he wasn't exaggerating. Harry was relatively confident he could make it through the night easily,though; all he had to do was sit in his room, make no noise and pretend he didn't exist. Which was basically his only past time at the Dursleys anyway. However, Harry had been scared enough to hide two bottles of water and a few slices of bread in his room just in case; he would've taken more but he feared them noticing.

Of course fate was as cruel to him as always, and that was the night that a house elf named Dobby decided to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts. By the end of the night his door had been screwed shut and Harry laid on the floor bleeding and barely able to breathe from what he assumed were a few broken ribs. His back was shredded from the deepest lashings he'd ever received. But his wounds weren't why Harry was silently sobbing, curled up in a ball on the floor. No despite all the pain he was in there was only one thought in his mind: they cared, they hadn't forgotten him. And Ginny, oh, Ginny, his saving angle had written him almost every day. She cared and that was the thought that got him through the worst beating and night of his life. He laid there curled up in a ball to protect his letters, to protect his only connection to the wizarding world where one day he could be whole again.

Harry wasn't sure how many days had passed while he was locked in his room. He'd been woken up shortly the next day to the sound of Uncle Vernon putting bars over his window, laughing like a maniac. Harry quickly passed out again from the pain. His only real marker of time was waking up long enough to feed Hedwig the pieces of bread he'd hidden in his room. Reading the letters were what kept him going; he only allowed himself to read one at a time he so he would have a reason to wake up again. He started with Ginny's because those gave him the most hope and strength. The first few were written a day or two apart but they quickly became dated daily. After the first few she asked him if she did something wrong or if he was mad at her. When he read the hurt in her words his heart broke and he wept for the pain he'd caused her. Then they became worried about him, asking if he was alright, if he was safe. She always tried to put something happy or cheerful in them to brighten his day, and that's those images were the last in his mind every time he closed his eyes.

He woke up one night to Hedwig hooting softly, almost as if she was trying to quietly wake him. Once he opened his eyes he was extremely confused, his room was glowing red. After he put his glasses on and rolled out of bed wincing at the pain, he peered out the window in amazement at the sight before him. The cause of the red light cast on the room was none other than a flying blue Ford Anglia. There was a red head leaning out of it tying a rope around the bars, a huge smile spread on Harry's lips – he was saved.

Once the twins and Ron got the bars off Harry quickly passed Hedwig to them. They were about to ask where his trunk was when they heard his Uncles roar of rage, they dropped the subject and helped Harry into the car with one look at his terror filled face. None of them said anything, but Harry noticed the way they wrinkled their noses when he got in and he was immediately ashamed. He embarrassedly explained that he hadn't been allowed a shower in a couple of days. This stunned the other boys. They kept up a steady stream of conversation talking at Harry on the way to the Burrow; they seemed to sense he didn't want to talk much. Harry was grateful for friends like them who ignored his disgusting condition and talked to him like nothing was wrong.

Harry was amazed as he looked around at the Burrow after they had landed safely. Though some might have called the home a little shabby, to Harry it was the most homely and welcoming place he'd ever seen. It looked like it was built with magic and slowly added on to over the years. Once they snuck inside he could see it was full of magic, from knitting needles knitting away by themselves to the pots and pans washing in the sink by a magic sponge. He'd never seen magic used so freely. It was a sight that made him love the magic world even more.

"Where HAVE you been! No note, empty beds and your father's car MISSING!" A rosy- -cheeked, plump lady scolded as she came into the kitchen, Harry shrank back at the yelling out of habit and Mrs. Weasley seemed to notice.

"Not that I blame you, Harry, dear." she cooed sweetly.

"They were starving him, Mum-"

"-Yeah, look how skinny he is." The twins tried to defend their actions.

"They had bars on his windows!" Ron added to help their defense. Mrs. Weasley looked at Harry and worry creased her brow.

"Well, you do look like you could use something to eat. Come here and eat." She glared at her boys. "You lot will be de-gnoming the garden today," she finished.

As Harry turned his back to the stairs to sit he heard a squeak, then someone grab his arm and turned him around. As he was spun around all he seen was a raised hand. Harry gasped and collapsed into a ball to protect himself from the coming beating. He passed out as he hit the floor from a combination of pain and hunger. The last thing he heard before the lights went out was a sweet voice full of panic calling his name.

Harry woke slowly to the sound of quiet whispers and a small soft hand clinging to his desperately.

"How could they do this to him, Mum?" It was Ginny's normally sweet voice, but this time it was thick with tears.

"I-I I don't know, Honey, all we can do now is be here for him and help him recover from this. Somehow." He heard footsteps leaving the room.

Harry noticed he was laying face down on a soft but lumpy couch. He started to try and push himself up. He had to get off the couch before he ruined it.

"It's ok, Harry, it's just us. Stay laying down and rest," came Ginny's sweet, soothing voice.

"Can't - I smell. I'll ruin the couch." He made to push himself up but felt her small, soft hand hold him firmly in place.

"You're fine Harry. Just rest a moment."

It was then that Harry noticed something that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up, his shirt was gone! She could see his back! They knew! That's what she was asking about! Oh, God, Ginny knew; she shouldn't see him like this!

"P-Please d-don't look at me, Gin. Not like this." he choked out barely a whisper at the end and kept his head turned away so he wouldn't have to see the pity on her face.

He felt her free hand slide under his chin.

"Harry, look at me," she told him softly while turning his head towards her. He took a shaky breath but did as he was told. He felt his glasses carefully placed on his face. And there she was – Ginny. His breath caught at the sight of her. He felt a warmth spread through his chest. But the thing that really shocked him was her face: it was tear stained. She had been crying, but more than that it was her expression. There was no pity on her face. All that he could see in her eyes was caring, such deep caring that it surprised him. Her brow was furrowed in worry for him and her mouth was pulled in a tight line. She didn't pity him; she knew he would hate the pity. She knew him and had seen a part of him that he would've never shown anyone. Yet she still cared.

"Hey," was all he could manage around the lump in his throat. He wasn't used to these kinds of emotions.

She smiled. "Hey."

"Sorry I collapsed on you and am stinking up your couch," he mumbled, unsure of what else to say.

She laughed lightly in an exasperated way, and rolled her eyes.

"Forget about the bloody couch, Harry! Are you really apologizing for passing out when I was the one that freaked YOU out? Come on, Harry, that's just dumb and even you can see that."

"Sorry you had to be the one to pick up my broken arse?" he tried again with a small smile on his lips. This he could do with her. He could make it through this.

"One more dumb apology and and I'm out of here," she came back with a smile. He squeezed her hand, a look of sheer panic on his face. "I'm just teasing, Harry, not one of my best jokes, I guess. It's going to take Merlin himself to get me away from you at this point, okay?" she whispered quietly, sorrow in her eyes. She turned her head as footsteps entered the room.

"Is he wake yet dear?"

"Yes, Mum."

"Good, good. Harry dear, do you feel like you can sit up?"

He nodded and started slowly pushing himself up. He gasped in pain about halfway up and started to fall back down. Soft hands gently grabbed his shoulders and gently helped him up. After gasping for a few more shallow breaths he gave Ginny a pained smile. "Thanks, Gin."

"What hurts, dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked, concern filling in her voice.

"I think I might have a few broken ribs?"

"Oh dear, we'll get a healer to look at that right away, but first you need to eat something." She handed him a plate with some buttered toast and a glass of water. Harry managed to get a piece down and most of the water before he felt like he might get sick if he ate any more.

"Well that's a start, Hon. Would you like to a shower while I go get a healer?"

"Yes, please."

"Ginny, can you help him with his back? Those look like they need a good scrub, before they get anymore infected."

"Of course, Mum. Come on, Harry. I'll help you to the bathroom."

"Thanks," Harry mumbled, rather embarrassed to have to have someone help him wash like a baby.

She helped him up the stairs and into the bathroom where she had him sit on a small stool she placed in the bath. She turned the faucet and while waiting for the water to get to the right temperature she grabbed a washcloth.

Harry cleared his throat uncomfortably. "I, erm, I can do it myself, Ginny."

"It's ok to get help sometimes, Harry, and right now, whether you want to admit it or not, you need it. And I'm going to be here to help you, so just shut up and let someone help you for once." The caring was evident in her voice removing all the sting from her words.

"This is going to hurt a little, but i'll try to be gentle, ok?" She added with a sigh, regretting she would have to cause him anymore pain.

Harry nodded and braced himself, while pain is something he was used to, he still tensed at the first touch of his wounds. The pain was nearly as bad as when he received them. But he knew they had to be cleaned and that Ginny was being as careful as she could. Ginny noticed him tense and started rubbing his arm comforting hating the pain she was causing.

"So is this going to be our thing huh? You getting hurt and me coming to your side." The way she said it let him know she didn't really mind.

"Well so for it seems like the best way to get your attention." He tried to make it as light hearted as he could through gritted teeth.

"Oh Potter, you've had my attention longer than you know. My favorite bedtime stories as a little girl were all the ones about Harry Potter and all the amazing adventures he had." He could hear the blush in her voice, he didn't think she'd meant to reveal that little fact.

"Just be happy mum sent the boys out of the house to de-gnome the garden. If they saw me giving a half naked boy a sponge bath they'd lose it. Even if it was you." She added quickly trying to make him forget her little slip up, her little laugh at the end did more to get his mind off the pain than she'd ever know.

"Well if they find out just tell them you were giving the friendly neighborhood cripple a sponge bath. They'll think you're a saint, which you are after helping me through this. Honestly thank you Ginny. I don't know what I would do without you and your family."

"I don't mind, Harry, like I've said ten times already, I'm always going to be here for you." She gave his arm a squeeze to emphasize her point.

He covered her hand with his and squeezed her back. Without thinking about it he kept his hand over hers until she finished.

"Well, my work here is done. The rest is up to you," she said with a shy smile whilst she grabbed a towel out of the cupboard. "Here is a towel and I'll grab some of Ron's clothes and sit them outside the door for when you're done. If you need anything just yell and I'll be here."

"I'd say thanks again but I'm afraid you might throw the towel at me," he said with a small smirk. For some reason even after all he'd been through, all the pain, she could still make him smile. There was definitely something special about her.

"Ah, ha. The boy-who-lived is also the boy-who-learns." She returned the smile as she closed the door.

After struggling out of his clothes with more than a few painful moments, he climbed into the shower. Whilst being careful to not let the water hit his back directly he washed himself multiple times before he finally felt clean again. Once that was done he just let the hot water fall on his head for a long time. He let it wash his worries, fears and pains away. He was safe here, he was cared for here. Was he home? He felt like he was though he wasn't sure why.

"Harry, are you ok in there?" Ginny called from the other side of the door.

He flushed several shades of red. "Erm, yeah, sorry, I'll be out in a minute – the shower just felt good and was really relaxing," he explained awkwardly and rather quickly.

A smile was evident in her voice. "No worries, I love relaxing in the shower too. Mum just got back with the healer so come down once you're dressed. Don't bother with the shirt - you'll just have to take it off anyway."

"Okay be down in a few," he responded quickly.

After drying and dressing as carefully as he could he made his way slowly down the stairs and into the living room. He was caught off guard by the man sitting there with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. After a quick second of panic his brain took in the man's appearance and realized he must be Mr. Weasley. He relaxed slightly, not realizing he'd tensed up at the sight of the man.

"Ahh, Harry, my boy, nice to meet you. I'm Arthur Weasley," the man said in a jovial voice as he stood and extended his hand toward the boy.

Harry tried not to flinch and he almost succeeded, but it was just too soon. Images of his uncle flashed through his head. At least last year he'd had a month pretty much by himself before he had to be around others to repress everything and move past it. He'd get back to the real Harry soon, he promised himself.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Weasley, sir. I'm sorry for the intrusion into your home." He apologized. "And for my state of dress, I was told to leave the shirt off for now," he added sheepishly after thinking about the fact that he was standing shirtless in this man's living room with his daughter present.

"Not a problem, Harry. It is no intrusion at all. Ron and Ginny have told molly and myself so much about you." He smiled kindly at the boy.

Harry caught Ginny's blush out of the corner of his eye at her father's comment.

"If you'd sit down on the couch, Mr. Potter, I'd like to get started on my examination," Said a familiar voice.

Harry was startled, having not noticed Madam Pomfrey in the corner. He nodded and sat on the indicated spot on the couch so Madam Pomfrey could examine him as needed. She began waving her wand all around him and making disapproving clicks with her tongue and murmuring under her breath.

"Well good news and bad news, Mr. Potter. The good news is there doesn't appear to be any permanent damage. Unfortunately your ribs have already began setting, but not in the correct manner. Regrettably, I'll have to re-break the three of them and reset them. Also, the cuts on your arms and back will heal quickly with some pastes, but the scars will remain. There may be someone else who can remove them but that's not my specialty…." She trailed off sadly.

Harry shook his head in the negative. "Scars serve a purpose. Though they may be ugly they are part of who I am. I have no wish to hide them."

"Well spoken with maturity beyond your years, my boy. Now if you wait here I'll go back to my office to get a sleep potion so I can re-break those ribs," the matron informed him.

"No sleep potion. I'll be fine." The thought of not being in control of himself and at the mercy of others while in a magical sleep scared him more than any pain. He trusted the Weasleys, but he wasn't ready to be that vulnerable in front of anyone.

Madam Pomfrey looked disapprovingly at him. "Are you quite sure? It'll be extremely painful."

"Yes, I'm sure it will be, but I can handle the pain. Erm, Ginny, can you please go wait outside for this? I-I don't want you to see this. Just for a moment, please." He added the last part as she started to open her mouth to argue. She sighed and got up with one last look at him, eyes full of worry before she left the room. Harry closed his eyes and let out a sigh when he heard the door close behind her. He'd seen the tears in her eyes when Madam Pomfrey was explaining what was wrong with him and couldn't put her through more.

What Harry didn't know, though, was that Ginny hadn't gone outside when she'd opened and closed the door. She sat there on the kitchen floor leaning against the door clenching her fists and holding her tears in as best as she could. She was going to be here for Harry through the whole process whether he liked it or knew it or not.

Once the matron had applied the bandages to his back, he laid down on the couch as he was directed and stared at the ceiling. "Ok, I'm ready, ma'am."

"Well, yes then, try not to move, ok? Arthur you may have to hold him."

Mr. Weasley slowly made his way near Harry's head, keeping in mind how he'd flinched when he'd went to shake the poor boy's hand. He gently put his arms on Harry's shoulders, gave the boy a look of encouragement and then looked at Madam Pomfrey.

"This is going to hurt, Harry. Are you ready?"

Harry clenched his fist and gave her a nod. Madam Pomfrey lifted her wand and mumbled quietly and suddenly Harry's world was exploding around him. He almost blacked out but managed to maintain his consciousness. He heard a horrific scream in the distance but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. His eyes were welded closed in pain so he didn't see the horrified looks on the adults' faces.

"One down, ready again?"

Harry barely nodded this time, preparing for the pain. It was worse the second time because he knew what was coming. The scream this time sounded worse because the person's throat was raw from the first scream of agony. Harry realized that it was him screaming at the last moment and shut his mouth to stop the sound.

"Last one, Harry, ready?"

A faint whimper was all the acknowledgement he could muster his body sweating and so tense he couldn't move even if he wanted. This time he tried to keep himself from screaming but failed and if anything made the scream worse. He kept his eyes firmly closed for a good long while after the last one trying to compose himself. Harry kept his eyes closed as he laid there recovering from the worst pain of his life, At least Ginny hadn't had to see it was the only comfort he had. While he laid there with his eyes closed calming his breathing the adults in the room shared pained looks and schooled their faces while drying their tears it would do no good for the boy to see how the experience had affected them.

What none of them had seen was the young redhead hugging her knees tightly to her chest while silently sobbing, her fingernails gouging lines into her hands to keep herself from running to Harry's side. Ginny promised to herself in that moment that she would never let something like this happen to Harry ever again. She'd never let someone hurt him again, not her Harry. Her Harry - it was an odd thought, but it felt more right than she could explain. She clung to that thought and kept her eyes shut, trying to stop the stream of tears. She focused on calming her breathing. She had to compose herself before she went back in there. She had to be strong if she was going to be there for Harry though this, if she was going to be his rock through this storm, his beacon in this darkness.

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A/N: There you go Harry has been fully beaten down and broken, but now he can rebuild himself into the person he wants to be with the help of the Weasley's. Writing this chapter was rather hard and i'm sure reading it will be just as hard, so in order to end on a happier note I waited until I had the next chapter written as well before posting it. So go read that one now!


	6. The Healing Begins

A/N: Now that the darkest time of Harry's life is behind him the healing can begin, with a lot of help from a certain redhead witch. There will be some POV switching in this chapter and from here on out so let me know what you think of it and if I can improve on it in any way. Let the Hinny and fluffy begin.

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 **Chapter 6**

The rest of Harry's first day at the Burrow was hectic and full of questions, many of them unanswered and even more of them unasked. He wasn't sure what he would've done if Ginny hadn't been there with him. He wasn't sure when they had become so close but he wasn't going to question it. She gave her brothers death glares when they started asking questions that she seemed to know he wouldn't want to answer. Then she would steer the conversation back to something safe. And she did it in such a way that didn't make Harry feel weak or like he was any different or less than what he'd been before they knew what had happened. Before he knew it, it was time for dinner. The afternoon had gone by quickly whilst chatting and catching up with his friends, and he felt surprisingly ok - not just from being able to breath easily again, but he felt comfortable to be back in the wizarding world and with his friends. He felt good to be slipping back into the real Harry, the person he knew he was underneath everything else. It'd take awhile to get back fully to his old self, but being surrounded by all these people who cared helped. Plus, with Ginny by his side he knew it'd be even easier. There were more than a few flinches at sudden movements or loud noises and voices, but without making it obvious the family tried to accommodate his needs.

"Hey, Mum where'd Dad go after lunch?" Ron asked whilst everyone was sitting down for dinner.

"Another night raid tonight?" one of the twins asked conspiratorily. One day Harry was going to have to have Ginny teach him how to tell the two of them apart reliably.

"What's a night raid?" Harry asked, quite intrigued by the sound of it and how excited the twins had look at the prospect.

"Dad works in the Ministry, and since the Aurors are so short staffed they asked for volunteers to help them raid the houses of some suspected supports of You-know-who. They're looking for dark objects and what not,"the other twin supplied. It was easily the longest sentence Harry had ever heard one twin say without the other jumping in.

"No, he actually went to retrieve something. He should be back soon." Molly informed them whilst looking everywhere but at Harry. He had a sinking feeling but he wasn't going to bring it up since she apparently didn't want to.

"Well, go on, dig in everyone. It's not going to stay warm forever," she scolded them.

With no more ceremony than that dinner began. It was a sight to behold to Harry: everyone reaching around, passing plates of food back and forth. Jests and jeers were traded happily and laughs rang out easily. He was so distracted that he had forgotten to grab any of the delicious-looking food as it was passed around. He was about to ask someone to pass the plates of food when he looked down at his plate. On it a little bit of everything was placed in neat, small piles, all carefully separated. He must've had a confused look on his face because the next thing he heard was a quiet giggle from next to him. He turned to see a smirking Ginny looking at him.

"It looked like you were quite distracted and entertained by the antics of my family, so I figured I'd grab you some while you watched." Ginny whispered all of this quietly and quickly so only Harry could hear.

He blushed slightly and thanked her just as quietly. He was confused by the small portions at first until he remembered Madam Pomfrey telling him to start with small meals and to slowly build back up to larger meals. Ginny obviously hadn't forgotten. He smiled at her again, and, as he did. he noticed that unlike the rest of the family on whose plates a mess of food was thrown on quickly and mixing here and there, her plate was neat and orderly. Everything seemed to have a place, and there was careful separation amongst all of her foods. None were touching. The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. She looked up at him with a mouthful of potatoes, confusion in her eyes. When she noticed what he was looking at, she rolled her eyes and quickly swallowed.

"Oh, God, not you, too," she let out with a huff of exasperation.

When Ron looked over at them and saw what Harry was looking at, he let out a short laugh. "Ahh, so you've noticed Ginevra's little quirk, have you?" The twins joined in Ron's laughter now.

"Ronald, I told you to never call me that years ago or have you forgotten? Maybe I should forget that I said I wouldn't tell a certain brunette a certain thing I overheard this summer?" Ginny's eyes sparkled with a fury that caught Harry a bit off guard. He'd always known Ginny was a spunky and fiery redhead, but this was the first real dose of it he'd seen.

"Erm, nope, not at all, Ginny, just a slip of the tongue, you know how it is." Ron tried to chuckle reassuringly, but it came out more as a whimper.

Her glare slid over to the twins who suddenly found the ceiling quite interesting. Slowly she turned that glare on him, and his stomach did a little flip when he noticed just how beautiful those big brown eyes were, especially when backlit with the light of her fury.

"Got something to say, Potter?" She kept those weapon-like eyes trained on him and his sly smirk.

"Why, yes, I actually had a question." She inclined her head for him to continue but with caution. "Well, I was curious as to whether the layout had a particular order or not?"

The fire in her eyes burned out slowly but she kept staring into his, almost as if she was waiting for the incoming joke or jeer. She had come to expect these things from her brothers, but what she saw now was nothing but genuine intrigue and curiosity. She actually blushed and looked down at her plate. None of her family had ever bothered to ask her why she did it. They just laughed at her and teased her about it, not in a mean way but as one expects siblings to. She was now more than a little self-conscious about it: what if he thought she was a silly little girl or that she was lame? She bit her lip, took a breath, and looked up at him.

"Well, erm, actually, yeah, there is. You see, I always put my favorite in the middle, then I put the rest of the food around the edges starting in the top center with my least favorite, working around the edge clockwise with my next least favorite, and so on. Then I eat it all starting in the top center again and going around clockwise until I'm done. That way I save my favorite for last." She finished with a sigh.

Harry looked down at her while she explained. She started off normally, but, as she went on, she got more self-conscious, he assumed, because she got a little quieter and spoke faster as she went. He nodded and smiled at her as she looked back up at him. She'd dropped her eyes to the plate about halfway through.

"Seems logical to me, might as well finish on a high note, right?"

She nodded and brightened significantly, someone finally understanding her unique quirk. The rest of the table rolled their eyes and went back to their conversations.

After he was sure everyone was invested in the other conversation, he whispered softly to her. "Plus, I think it's kind of cute." Out of the corner of his eye he caught her blush before she turned away quickly.

"Hello Weasleys and Harries… that doesn't work does it? Well, no matter, I'll come up with something," the jovial older man called as he entered the kitchen. The room erupted in laughter at his failed attempt at dramatic entrance.

"Anyway, I got something of yours, Harry," he stated as Harry's Hogwarts trunk floated into the room behind him and sat with a thud by the foot of the stairs.

Harry's jaw dropped; he was beyond happy. Early this morning all he'd wanted was to get out of that place, but, as he'd thought about it later, he'd really regretted leaving the trunk. It had the picture album from Hagrid, his father's cloak, and even his wand things that he wouldn't have been able to replace.

"Y-you didn't have to get that for me, sir. I could've just gotten new supplies. You didn't need to go through all that trouble for me." The family looked at him like he was crazy when he said he would've just bought new stuff.

"Ahh, Harry, it wasn't any trouble at all. And quite honestly I enjoyed leaving them a present or two on my way out." He had a surprisingly dark and mischievous look in his eyes at that comment.

Nobody in the room questioned him, but Harry did smile. It was amazing how warm and welcoming everyone had been to him, how much like family they treated him so quickly. After dinner was finished everyone went to the large living room filled with mismatched furniture. They sat around and chatted happily together, except the always aloof Percy, who had retired directly to his room to "continue his studies". The whole room had rolled their eyes at his pompous behavior.

When Harry yawned for the third time Ginny spoke up with an exaggerated yawn of her own. "Well I'm getting quite tired. I think it's about time to head to bed for me."

"Ginny, its barely even ten yet. You never go to bed this early," Ron stated, confused. Once again Harry caught the fiery glare she gave Ron, who quickly closed his mouth. He knew not to piss his sister off twice in one night.

Harry mouthed a thank you to Ginny when she looked over at him. She had brought up bed without him having to look weak in front of everybody. She really was like his own personal guardian angel.

"Yes, you're quite right, dear, it has been a rather long day. Well, Harry, I was going to say you can sleep in Ron's room but his is all the way up on the top floor. I don't think you need to be climbing all those stairs until you start feeling better. But the couch wouldn't be any good for you, either." Mrs. Weasley turned and looked at her husband for any ideas. He seemed just as puzzled as his wife.

Harry saw Ginny roll her eyes from beside him. "He can just stay in my room," she offered. She held up her hands to the protests, which came mostly from the boys. "Whilst I take Bill and Charlie's old room." she finished with a dramatic eye roll.

"Ah, well, yes, that does make the most sense, actually. You're only on the second floor and closest to a bathroom," her dad commented.

"No, I'm not going to push you out of your room just because of a few stairs," Harry huffed. It was Harry's turn to be on the receiving end of Ginny's glare for real this time. If he wasn't breathing shallowly from his now re-healing ribs, he would've been after he looked into those eyes.

"Oh, stop being so noble and difficult, Harry, you know what Madam Pomfrey said about taking it easy. And you're not pushing me out of my room, I offered it."

Harry took a note out of Ron's book and backed down. He wasn't dumb, and it looked like he had no real chance of winning this with her right now.

"Well, now that that's settled." Arthur broke the tension somewhat awkwardly.

* * *

Ginny's POV

Her dad took her side thankfully. Harry Potter is going to be sleeping in my room! She went slightly pale at the thought. She'd been so concerned with Harry's well-being that she forgot it meant HARRY POTTER would be sleeping in her room. She had to make sure her "delicates" were put away and God forbid any of her old diaries were in the open.

"Well, then, I'm going to head up to my room, change the sheets and grab some clothes and, erm, stuff. You can come up in a few minutes, Harry." She avoided looking at him whilst she said that. She hated how she started talking fast towards the end.

On the way up the stairs she scolded herself, reminding herself that she was no longer the shy, awkward little girl who was obsessed with Harry Potter. She knew she was over her little girl crush on him, but, at some point, some other feelings had replaced those old ones. Considering this had been the first extended period of time she had spent with him in person, she'd been proud of herself. Whilst focusing on Harry and his needs, it was easy to forget the way her stomach had fluttered when she was around him and the warm feeling she got every time he looked at her with those piercing, emerald eyes.

She closed her door and leaned against it for a couple calming breaths before she opened her eyes and got to work. She was glad she was a neat person, unlike Ron. The first things she grabbed were the four little black diaries off her bookshelf. She knew he wouldn't go looking through her things, but he liked to read. The last thing she needed was him to grab one of the little black books thinking they were fiction books and reading all of her little-girl dreams of marrying the great Harry Potter. Or even the one from last year where she had gushed about the letters he sent. She grabbed a bag out of her closet, threw the books in it, and looked around. Problem one was solved. She scanned around the room, making sure there was nothing else embarrassing in the open, and was about to call Harry up when her eyes crossed over her dirty clothes basket. Her bra from yesterday was sitting on top, only partly covered by her shirt. She blushed several shades of red before quickly throwing it and any other delicates from her dirty clothes basket into her bag. After quickly grabbing some pajamas and clothes for tomorrow and putting them into her bag as well she opened the door and called Harry up.

As she passed the stairs on her way back into the room after grabbing some clean sheets from the hall closet, she saw Harry climbing the stairs. He was only about halfway up, but he looked like he was in agony and he was nearly gasping for breath. Her heart broke for about the hundredth time that day. It killed her to see him, sweet, kind and selfless Harry, in such agony. She averted her gaze, walked into her room, and wiped her misty eyes. Ginny was not one to cry much but seeing him that broken and still trying to put a brave face on killed her. But she knew him, she knew he needed to climb those steps on his own, for himself, to prove to himself that he could, that he was still strong. If only she could tell him that he was the strongest person she'd ever met. No one else had suffered as much as he had, and yet he was still, well, Harry. She also knew that he was probably outside her room now, trying to compose himself. He wouldn't want her to see how hard those stairs had been for him.

* * *

Harry's POV

He finally made it to the landing. He leaned against the wall, needing to compose himself. He couldn't let Ginny see him this weak. After he got his breathing back under control and the pain wiped from his face, he turned the corner into her room. She looked up at him as she finished putting the new sheets on the bed.

"All set in Hotel Ginny?" he asked with a smirk.

"Why, yes, it is, sir. Your last-minute accommodations are prepared with the utmost care and attention to detail." She kicked one of her shoes under the bed not very subtly and shot him an over-the-top smile.

When she gave him a dramatic curtsy Harry's chuckle turned into a full-on laugh, his first since he'd left Hogwarts. His laugh soon turned into gasps of pain. He grabbed the footboard of her bed to brace himself against the spasms of agony. Through the fog of misery, he felt soft, strong hands grab his arm, steadying him.

"Sorry about that, Gin, but I guess there are worse way to die besides laughing to death with a pretty girl." He heard her huff beside him. Turning to her, he looked down into her big brown eyes; they were filled with concern for him, but they also held that fire that intrigued him so much.

"Don't think you can use flattery to distract me from your ridiculous apologies, Harry." But there was a playful smile that flickered at her lips.

He also noticed the blush that highlighted the light dusting of freckles on her cheeks. They stared at each longer than was strictly necessary until a noise from the stairs caught their attention.

"Hey, Harry, here's some pajamas for tonight," Ron called from the doorway.

Harry cleared his throat. "Thanks, mate. I'll see ya in the morning."

"No problem. You going to leave so he can get changed or what? Geez, Ginny," Ron tossed her way before he climbed the steps back up to his room.

She rolled her eyes at her brother and walked out the door. Harry smiled to himself at the two. They really were how he imagined brothers and sisters would be, bickering but still loving each other. Harry changed into the shorts relatively easily, but taking off his shirt had proven difficult and rather painful. He thought about just going to bed without a shirt but was worried one of his bandages might come loose in the night and get blood on the sheets. Ginny had helped him with his shirt earlier while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been talking to Madam Pomfrey. He really didn't want to ask her for help, especially after all she'd done for him today, but what choice did he have? He opened the door and almost ran into her as she was getting ready to knock on the door.

"Oh, hey, Harry. Mum asked me to bring this to you. It's your evening potion from Madam Pomfrey. Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" She seemed to blurt out the last part as she finally noticed he was sans shirt.

"Erm, well, I was actually looking for you. I, erm..." He trailed off out of a combination of shame for having to ask her for help and embarrassment at his incapability of taking care of himself.

"Harry, do you need some help with your shirt?" she asked kindly.

He looked defeatedly at the ground. "Yes, please."

She led him to the bed and had him sit down. As gently as she could she helped him into his shirt. Once that was taken care of, she grabbed the small flagon of potion off the nightstand where she'd set it down and handed it to him. He downed it quickly and grimaced at the taste.

"Thanks, Ginny, for all the help today," he told her, his voice rich with emotion.

"No problem, Harry. Like I said this morning, I'm here for you always, ok?" When he nodded, she continued as she approached the door, "Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Gin," he responded, his voice still rich with emotion but suddenly very sleepy. My flaming red light, he added in his head as the room plunged into darkness.

* * *

A/N: I know to some it may seem weird how "easy" it is for Harry to move on and get over his abuse just realize that it's not. He is struggling with it greatly (it's rather hard to show you that but i'm trying my best) but also realize his greatest strength is his love and ability to overcome whatever life throws his way. Plus Ginny is there for him every step of the way doing her best help him. As always thanks to my Beta GP, and thanks for all the Fallows, Favorites and Reviews, it really helps keep me motivated to continue.


	7. AN: I'm sick sorry

A/N: Not an update, sorry for getting your hopes up I just feel like you great peeps deserve an explanation for the lack of updates.

Long story short life happens usually in bunches. My Grandfather got sick over the holidays so I went home to see him and help with my family with the farm. When I got home two weeks ago I came down with bronchitis, me being a stubborn male (who hates doctors) decided that it was probably just a cold going from the heat of the south to the cold winters up north so I didn't go to the doctor. Well last week after having some server troubles breathing I decided it was best to go see a doc and what I thought was "just a cold" had turned into pneumonia, now i'm on some serious meds and getting better but still feel awful. But onto news of the story no it's not abandoned nor am I planning on abandoning it anytime soon I have the next two chapters typed they just need some editing done by myself before I send them to my Beta. I have five chapters outlined after those and at least the next four years roughly planned out. Not only am i writing this story for all of your entertainment it is also helping me work through some personal issues by having a goal and people who are counting on me to meet that goal, so don't worry I won't abandoned this story and you great peeps. I'm hoping to be feeling good enough to work on the next chapters this weekend so hopefully i'll get the next chapter out next week. Thanks for being awesome peeps!


	8. Progress

**A/N:** Sorry for the delay everyone but here is chapter 7, I really struggled with writing this one I think I have about four drafts saved on my hard drive. And even after all that i'm still not super happy with it, but hopefully it helps set the foundation for the relationship between Harry and Ginny, it was really important for me to show how important Ginny is becoming to Harry. Something to keep in mind this is where my story will begin to become more AU, most of the main plot points will hold true but there will be some changes and a few twists. A quick shout out to my Beta GinnyPotter6891 for all her hard work and who just posted her first story **Just the Mother of His Children** an amazingly well written and original story well worth a read. Now that i'm getting more reviews i'll be answering questions in a Authors Note at the end, speaking of which thank you all for all the reviews, follows and favorites!

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

Harry was abruptly awoken by someone shaking him and calling his name. He jolted up and scrambled across the bed away from the unknown threat. The pain from his back and ribs caused him to gasp in pain from the motion, but this helped chase the sleep and confusion from his brain. As his breathing slowed, a hand slowly extended toward him, holding his glasses out to him. Harry cautiously reached out and took them from the unknown man. Once he had put them on and could see clearly again, realization came over him, quickly followed by extreme embarrassment and shame. Mr. Weasley was seated on the edge of the bed, his face full of concern while Mrs. Weasley stood behind her husband and looked down at Harry with a heartbroken expression. Worst of all were the shocked looks on all of the Weasley children's faces as they looked in from the hallway. Harry quickly looked down at his lap and profusely apologized for having woken them up and been such a burden. He heard a gasp and was quickly engulfed in a hug from Mrs. Weasley, Harry tensed at her touch but soon found the gesture comforting. She told him that he wasn't a burden and that he had nothing to apologize for; after a few moments of ensuring he was ok,she reluctantly had pulled away. The rest of the family drifted out of his room with many more concerned looks thrown his way. Harry refused to talk or even look up from his lap until he heard all of them close the door to his room. He sat there for awhile longer and stared at his lap while he scolded himself for not casting the silencing charm that Professor McGonagall had taught him early in his first term.

He knew the Ministry tracked underage magic but also knew an occasional small spell or charm would go unnoticed in a house full of adults using magic. After a few more moments he pushed all his fears and emotions of the Dursleys down into a deep dark corner of his mind he felt a little better. He got up and retrieved his wand quietly from his trunk and silently cast the silencing charm on the room. He sighed with relief. He knew no one would hear his next nightmare. The thought of another nightmare caused a shiver to run down his spine. He knew he wouldn't be going back to sleep tonight.

As quietly as he could he made his way downstairs, got himself a glass of water, and made his way to the small study Ginny had shown him yesterday on the quick tour of the house. He found an old copy of "The Book of Spells: Year Two" on the book shelf. In an effort to calm himself he retreated into the safety of the book, curled up in one of the worn but comfortable chairs, and began reading. Harry wasn't sure how long he sat in the cozy little study reading about the spells he would be learning in his upcoming year, but a noise at the door to the study made him jump a little.

"Well, good morning, Harry." Mr. Weasley called softly from the door surprised to see the boy awake at this hour.

"Good morning, sir. I-I hope you didn't mind, but I remembered you said I was welcome to use the library, so I, erm, did," Harry responded, trying to ensure that he wasn't in trouble for being out of bed.

"I don't mind at all – you're welcome in here any time. I was just surprised to see anyone else up at this hour is all." After a small pause he continued. "Would you like to join me for a light breakfast before I head out to the Ministry?"

Harry nodded and slowly followed the man into the kitchen. Mr. Weasley turned to the boy once they had entered the kitchen and in a conspiratorial tone asked if Harry would like to know one of his guilty pleasures. Intrigued, Harry nodded.

The older man leaned in closer and continued conspiratorially. "I really love a good cup of coffee in the morning with breakfast. I know, quite the shock, eh?"

Harry smiled at the man's slightly dramatic revelation. Mr. Weasley bustled around the kitchen preparing the drink and grabbing a couple pastries for the two of them while explained how he fell in love with the drink on a ministry trip to France.

"I recommend two scoops of sugar and a bit of milk at first - you can change the mixture as you like, if you like it all." He added the last part as an afterthought as he sat down across from Harry.

"I think I rather like it." Harry stated after a couple of tentative sips at the new drink.

"Ahh, a fellow man of discerning tastes, I see." Arthur beamed a smile at the boy. "I'm glad there is one more of us in the house who appreciates a good thing my boy."

"Who else drinks the coffee?" he asked intrigued.

Arthur let out a small laugh "Well, much to her mother's disapproval, Ginny also enjoys it. I always leave a cup on the counter for her with a warming charm on it. Don't tell her I told you, but she is awful at making the stuff."

Harry laughed a little at this knowledge. He enjoyed finding out more about the girl who had at some point in the last year invaded most of his thoughts. The two sat in comfortable silence while they sipped their coffee and ate the pastries. Mrs. Weasley came down shortly after. She made herself a cup of tea and joined them in their quite breakfast. After Arthur had left for the Ministry Mrs. Weasley started making breakfast for the rest of the family. She politely refused Harry's offer to help so he brought his book into the kitchen table and continued to read. Not long later they heard movement upstairs, quiet and cautious at first but suddenly replaced by quick steps down the stairs.

"Mum, have you seen Harry? He's not in his room or the bathroom and it's time for his next set of potions." Ginny called before she was even down the last flight of steps, worry bordering on panic evident in her voice.

"Oh." She sighed as she finally saw Harry sitting at the table, her cheeks blushing a soft pink. She recovered quickly, though.

"Well, anyway, here, Harry, here's your morning dose. But don't take it yet. It would be better if you ate a little first – taking potions on an empty stomach is no fun, trust me." She hurried into the kitchen and grabbed a little of the food that her mum was finishing up and placed it on a plate for him.

Harry sat stunned into silence and watched her with a small smile on his face. She was so sweet, and she seemed to be genuinely concerned for him. Once again he found that same unusual warmth spreading in his chest that only she seemed to cause. She sat the plate down in front of him with a suddenly shy smile.

"Oh, erm, what would you like to drink?" she asked and nervously bit her lip.

Harry was dazzled by how cute she was at the moment. Her big soft brown eyes seemed to draw him in while the dawn light was reflecting off the wisps of hair that had escaped her messy ponytail seemed to surround her in a glow. And the way she was suddenly nervously bit her lip was just beautiful.

"D-Don't worry I can get a glass of water myself, thanks though Ginny." He managed nearly stuttering.

"Don't worry I'm already up." She had turned around and already filled a glass for him before he had a chance to protest.

"See, no problem." she said, her confident smile back. But it was soon replaced by another blush when her stomach rumbled hungrily. The rest of breakfast was a nice quiet affair with just the right amount of small talk and comfortable silence.

"So what are you planning on doing today, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley asked as they were finished and she banished their plates to the sink.

"Erm, well, I'm not sure. Since I'm supposed to take it easy for the next two weeks, I was thinking about reading the text books for next year. I found a set in the study I thought I'd use until I can get my own from Diagon Alley."

The older witch looked at him with mild surprise evident on her face, but Ginny was looking at him with a different look on her face and a small smile playing on her lips. "You're going to read the entire text books for the next year before school even starts?" Mrs Weasley queried with a touch of surprise coloring her voice.

"As long as you don't mind me borrowing the texts, it's just being raised in the Muggle world there is so much about magic that I don't know. So any little bit of knowledge that I can get I try and take advantage of. Plus I think it makes school work quite a bit easier as I already have a basic understanding of what the professors are covering so it's more of a review than brand new material. For the more confusing topics that the reading does not explain well, I just make a note and wait until class covers them so I don't confuse myself beforehand." Harry had become quite embarrassed that he had revealed so much, that by the end of his rambling he was looking down at the table and blushing brightly.

Ginny placed a hand gently on his arm. "I think that's quite brilliant Harry."

"Of course, you can, dear. Please make yourself at home here, Harry," she said kindly.

"T-Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Harry blushed again.

"Ginny, why don't you show him how the study is organized while I get the rest of breakfast made up for your brothers?"

"Ok, mum. Come on, Harry." She offered him her hand to help him up and walked to the study. Harry wasn't sure if she realized she never let go of his hand. But he was very happy that she hadn't so he wasn't going to say anything.

Ginny explained how the small library was laid out, one of the bookshelves being devoted to textbooks, each year had its own shelf. Some of the books looked well used and the first year books looked nearly ruined. Harry had noticed Ron was quite rough with his books and while he didn't worship them the way Hermione did, he had never had anything of his own so he took very good care of his. While looking at old text books Harry was reminded of how little the Weasleys had in the way of money, but rather than pity them or think less of them he smiled to himself. What they lacked in money and material goods they more than made of for with love and caring for each other, and to Harry that was worth more than all the gold in Gringotts. He managed to pull himself out of his thoughts in time to hear the rest of her explanation of the layout of the rest of their small library.

"Thanks. It's so nice to have such a nice library and cozy place to read. It sure beats the loud Leaky Cauldron or overbearing quietness of the Hogwarts library," he said as he made his way back over to the chair that he had been sitting in early this morning, regretfully letting go of her hand.

"It's not much, but I agree – I really like sitting in here and relaxing with a good book." She went over to the first year shelf and pulled out "The Standard Book of Spells: Year One" and sat down at the old desk. She let out a sad sigh as she opened the book and the cover nearly came off.

"What in the name of Merlin did he do to these books?" she muttered angrily to herself.

While Harry got comfy in his chair and opened his book, he heard a thunder of noise as the twins and Ron finally smelled the breakfast and came running down the stairs. A little while later Harry was making good progress in his book when he heard a small cry of indignation from Ginny.

"MUM!"

Her mother popped her head in a moment later.

"What's wrong, dear?"

"What's wrong is your youngest son has ruined all of his books! I thought Harry's idea was a good one so I thought I'd join him. But what am I supposed to do with this!" She lifted up her book, the cover nearly falling off and some pages falling out onto the desk, many of them wrinkled or tore.

Mrs. Weasley looked at her sadly, "Accio Spell-O-Tape." She waved her wand and a roll of Spell-O-Tape flew to her hand. "I'm sorry, dear. Try to do your best to fix what you can. We'll see if we can replace the worst ones after we have gotten the rest of the school supplies this year. I'm really sorry, dear." A look of defeat and sadness was on her face.

"It's ok, mum and I'm sorry I yelled. I just wasn't expecting them to be this bad," Ginny responded with another sad sigh, took the roll of tape and got to work as her mum left.

"RONALD WEASLEY! What on earth did you do to your books last year? You will be de-gnoming the garden and cleaning out the chicken coop for the next two weeks do you hear me!" Harry had never expected such ferocity from the sweet lady and flinched at the sound of her voice.

Ginny noticed his flinch and looked over at him with worry in her eyes. "It's ok, Harry, she's not going to hurt him or anything. But he really messed up this time. I-It's going to be . . . tough on Mum and Dad this year. With so many of us at school at once it's a lot of supplies to buy." She finished with an embarrassed blush at letting him know how much they would be struggling this year.

"Don't be embarrassed, Gin. I never had anything new until I went to Hogwarts – you should've seen the clothes I had to wear! They were, and I'm not kidding here, 5 sizes too big for me." An idea came to Harry. "Hey, Ginny, can you come upstairs and help me with something for a minute?"

She looked at him quizzically "Sure."

He made his way up to her room with her following behind him. He tried his best to not let the stairs affect him, but they did. Thankfully, Ginny didn't comment. He dug through his trunk and pulled out his books from his first year. After he was finished he had a stack of all the required textbooks on one side and three others on his other side. The rest of his books he placed back into his trunk. As he was finishing returning the other books to his trunk he knocked over a small wood box he'd ask Hagrid to make him towards the end of the year. Harry used it to keep all of his most valuable things which at this point consisted of all of his letters from Ginny and a framed picture of his parents on their wedding day that Professor McGonagall had given him shortly before he left Hogwarts.

The letters went spilling on the floor and his face flamed brightly. He was embarrassed to have Ginny see how he'd kept them all. Her faced flushed slightly pink as she helped him gather the letters as she realized that they were all from her and how carefully he'd opened them, almost like they were precious to him. Her breath hitched and eyes got a little misty as she picked up the most recent few ones she'd wrote him while he was at the Dursley's. They weren't opened as carefully and looked surprisingly worn. She could see red stains on parts of them and what looked like red fingerprints; she knew what it meant. He had re-read these letters many times most likely after his lashings and beatings. Ginny was a smart girl. She could piece together what that signified: he'd used her letters to cope to get through what was most likely the dakest time in his life.

"Harry…" She began softly fingering the most worn envelope that had more than a few red spots on it. She looked up into his eyes and saw such panic and shame it nearly broke her heart.

"I-I'm sorry Gin," he began, but she softly cut him off.

"Don't be, Harry, but why?" A searching look was in her misty eyes.

Harry sighed and leaned against the bed, pulled his legs in to himself and closed his eyes. His voice was nearly a whisper. "I got your letters from that house elf and after what-what happened with my uncle,I kept re-reading your letters. So many times in the couple days after I thought about giving up while I laid there. But your letters gave me something else to focus on – they gave me hope and a reason to keep fighting, a reason to wake up."

Ginny was shocked. She figured it was something like that but to hear him say it and to realize how much she meant to him made her heart swell and the warmth in her chest grow even more. Slowly and carefully she sat beside him, put a arm around him, and pulled him into a comforting hug. She barely noticed that for once when he was receiving a hug he didn't flinch away. They stayed like that for a while, her comforting him in a way no one else could, before a noise downstairs brought them back to the moment. They put the letters back into the box without another word about them. There was nothing left to say and a new level of understanding was brought to the two of them. Once the box was returned and his trunk closed he cleared his throat and returned to the reason they were up here in the first place.

"As long as you don't mind dealing with the notes I wrote in the margins, you can use these next year if you want. I'm not sure what book the new DADA will require but I put the one we used last year in here anyway." He gestured to the smaller stack. "These are some other books I picked up while I was staying at the Leaky Cauldron last year that might be some help to you as well. If you want you can use them, too."

Ginny's eyes teared up again; even though she wasn't usually one to tear up easy, this boy managed to bring out stronger emotions than she was used to. She looked at the stacks of almost brand new looking books. She would never admit it, but she had been dreading using those old worn out texts. She knew she'd be made fun of if she showed up to class with textbooks held together with tape. It didn't bother her that most of her belongings were second hand, but Ron had truly ruined those books. And here was sweet Harry, who had just admitted he had never had anything new himself until he bought these books, was offering them to her. She could tell from the look on his face that he wasn't doing this because he pitied her or felt sorry for her; no, he was giving them to her because he cared.

"I-I can't, Harry. They're yours – you even just told me they were the first new things you've ever had. I can't take that away from you." Her voice was full of emotions.

"Please take them, Gin. It would mean more to see you have them and be able to use them than just having them sit at the bottom of my trunk collecting dust."

"If you're absolutely sure." When he nodded enthusiastically she smiled. "Then I would appreciate them so much. Thank you, Harry!" She waited for him to stand up and gave him a big hug.

"Well let's get these down stairs so you can join me in studying. Not that you have to, of course. I know it's boring, and I'm sure you'd rather fly or do other things. So don't feel like you have to hang out with me or anything." He cursed himself for being so awkward just because she had hugged him.

"I enjoy keeping you company, Harry. Besides, the boys never let me fly with them," she said with a smile as she picked up the large stack, leaving him no option but to pick up the other three books. He knew that she did that on purpose so he wouldn't have to ask her for help, and it meant the world to him.

Harry quickly fell into a routine for the next two weeks. He would get four or five hours of sleep, sometimes waking up to a terrible nightmare. They slowly became less frequent but he never seemed to be able to get more sleep. But that was ok with him; it left him more time to study. In the mornings he would enjoy a cup of coffee and some small talk with Mr. Weasley before he left for work, then breakfast with Mrs. Weasley and Ginny. The latter would usually join him most of the day in the study, reading with him, occasionally asking him to explain his notes or something in the book. He would also ask her questions about the wizarding world as a whole occasionally, when something in his books brought up something new to him.

The twins would stop by and chat with them or hang out for some small talk, but they usually were running around, assumedly up to no good, or creating Merlin knows what in their room, if the small explosions were anything to go. Ron would come and play chess and chat with Harry later in the afternoon after he was done with his punishments. But Ron hated being cooped up in the house so he usually wouldn't stay long before leaving to go fly. Harry thought he would've missed spending more time with his best mate but actually found himself enjoying Ginny's quick wit and smile much more.

The nights were the hardest for him at first. With his inability to sleep much he felt trapped in his room, almost like the walls were closing in on him. In order to ease his mind, he started opening the window and sitting on the window sill in order before he would try to lie down and get what sleep he could. It was one of his first nights while sitting in the sill that he saw something that he knew he'd never forget. It was probably an hour or so after he'd heard the rest of the family go to sleep that he saw a small form approach the shed behind the Burrow. The figure reappeared from the shed after a moment, mounted a broom, and shot off. As the figure climbed into the sky and out of the shadow of the shed, the moonlight finally confirmed the identity that Harry had already knew from her letters. The moonlight cast an almost ethereal glow over her, but Ginny's long red hair was unmistakable. The display she put on was breathtaking; the way she twisted, turned and dived it was almost as if she was one with old broom, like she was born to it. Watching her was a beautiful sight and though he felt almost like he was intruding on something personnel he couldn't help but watch her. While he watched her fly in such an amazing and carefree way he could almost feel her excitement and happiness. Watching her fly in the evenings quickly became one of Harry's favorite parts of staying at the Burrow.

The only other excitement Harry had in those two weeks came about a week after arriving at the Burrow in the form of a letter from Remus Lupin, who had been one of the guardians who Harry should've been sent to live with. The letter helped explain a lot and answered many of the questions that Harry had. He learned that at the time of his parents' death Remus had been away on a mission to help defeat Voldemort, and when he heard of his friends' deaths he withdrew from the Wizarding world having no idea he'd been one of the guardians that his parents had outlined. The two began writing back and forth, getting to know each other. Harry really enjoyed Remus's insights into who his parents had really been. He finally had a real connection to his parents. Between all of the studying, letters to and from Remus, and the late nights of watch Ginny fly, his two weeks of recovery flew by faster than a bludger. Before he knew it, he was pronounced fit as a fiddle by Madam Pomfrey.

* * *

He was lying on his bed panting and exhausted from the effort of moving his things up to Bill and Charlie's old Room so Ginny could have hers back, he was disgusted with how weak he was. He had built up some strength the year before from Quidditch practice, but that had been all but robbed from him by his stay at the Dursleys'. It was in that moment that he decided he would never be weak again. He was going to do his best to become stronger both magically and physically, not only so he could defend himself but so he could protect those around him. He would never allow someone to suffer like he had, especially those he cared about. He would do anything for them. He figured until he got a chance to get to Diagon Alley and pick up some books to help him with his goals to improve his magical strength, he would start simple with some physical training. He started the next morning with just a simple easy-paced run to the Quidditch pitch and back a couple of times. After that he did some pushups and crunches like he remembered in P.E. He knew there were probably better ways but it would have to do until he got some books on physical training. He was surprised how much he enjoyed the running. It was a great way to clear his mind, and he actually found it easier to sleep at night since he was so exhausted from his efforts. He got a few questions from the family about his new routine but no one seemed to have any objections, especially since he seemed to be doing better than he had before he started.

After almost a month and a half at the Burrow Harry was the happiest he had ever been. He was enjoying his physical training, had finished studying all of the materials for next year, and made progress though many of the more interesting titles in the library. He was recovering from his traumatic time at the Dursleys' better than he expected. He rarely flinched from loud noises or sudden moves. He was on his way to becoming the Harry he knew he could be and wanted to be. He knew he'd never truly move past it, but he had hope for the future for the first time.

He was looking for a reason to ask Mr. and Mrs. Weasley to allow him to go to Diagon Alley to get some new books. He didn't want to be a burden on them, but he didn't want to wait until it was time to pick up their school supplies. He was ready to get started on a better physical training plan and wanted to start learning more defensive and offensive spells even if he couldn't practice them until he returned to Hogwarts.

A letter from Remus gave him the perfect chance. They had been talking for more than a month now, and Remus had asked if Harry would like to meet him for lunch at the Leaky Cauldron. While he was very nervous to meet the man, he was also very excited. One day in the future he might be able to live with this man, the one who his parents had entrusted him to. That thought was both terrifying and exciting. He knew he wasn't ready for that kind of change anytime soon, but maybe in the future, a year or two from now – who knew. At the very least, someday soon if he proved trustworthy, Remus would be able to go with him to Gringotts to unseal his parents' will. The fact that it had been sealed rather than executed confused Harry and made him curious what was in it that would make someone seal it.

The morning of his meeting with Remus Harry had gone from full of excitement to being nervous as hell. This man could potentially be the one who was going to step into Harry's life as a father figure. What if he didn't like Harry? What if he resented being burdened by Harry like the Dursleys? What if he treated him the way the Dursleys did? These thoughts came out of nowhere and hit him like a punch to the gut. He knew it was irrational – he had no intention of changing his living arrangements any time soon, but he couldn't help the panic rising in his chest. Harry slumped own on the stairs, hyperventilating, halfway to his room after his workout. He was having a panic attack, the first in a while, but he could tell it was going to be worse than any he could remember. His vision became blurry and started tunneling in, and flashes of the beatings came rushing through his mind. He felt his body began to shake. He heard someone who sounded very far away call his name and then again with a voice filled with fear. He felt hands wrap around him and he shrank away expecting the beatings that were playing in his mind to begin again for real. But this embrace was something he'd only felt a few times – it was warm and soft, and then the scent of flowers and a spring breeze softly surrounded him. His brain recognized that scent and he latched onto it, focusing on it, trying to remember it. The images of beatings slowed as his fuzzy mind tried to place that scent. It took his brain a while to place it – it was Ginny. Sweet kind Ginny. She smelled like that, the girl who had done so much for him, who had always been there for him.

He held on to the thought of her and focused on that, and gradually the raging sea of emotions and thoughts that filled his head slowed. He held to the rock that was the thought of Ginny. As his breathing calmed, he slowly opened his eye to a sea of red. He could see light filtering through a curtain of deep rich red. The light cast golden highlights through her hair. He realized Ginny was holding him as tight as she could, as if she let go he would slip away. His head was next to her neck and her hair had fallen around both of them almost like a curtain shutting out the outside world.

"Your hair is pretty. When the sun hits it, it has golden highlights, you know?"

He felt her tense for a second, and he worried that he'd freaked her out. He hadn't meant to say it out loud - it'd just slipped out.

"I find you curled up on the stairs shaking, gasping for breath and about to tumble down two flights, and all you can say is I have pretty hair?" She tried scolding him but he could hear the warmth and smile in her voice.

"I'm sorry I made you worry, again. Thanks, Gin," he responded lamely.

She gave an exasperated sigh. "How many bloody times do I have to tell you that I'm always going to be here for you Potter?"

"Twenty-three?" He stiffened suddenly as he realized that she was holding him close and he'd just finished out his work out. He stunk to high heaven, and she hadn't even cared, she'd just done everything she could to comfort him.

"Oh, God, Gin, I probably stink like dragon dung," he told her as he slowly went to sit up.

She let him pull away knowing that he was uncomfortable with closeness and signs of affection. "Have you met my brothers, Harry? I'm used to smelly boys," she playfully informed him. He just looked away awkwardly. "Well, go take your shower, then meet me in my room. I'll bring us up some breakfast, and you're going to tell me what happened."

Harry got a panicked look in his eyes, not wanting to expose his weakness to her, and began to protest, but before he could get a word out she pushed on. "I'm pretty sure I have an idea about it already, Harry, but you need to talk about it before you go see Remus today, ok? You don't have to talk about everything – I know you're not ready for that yet, but you have to be able to talk to him today without having a panic attack."

It amazed Harry as to how perceptive she was, and it comforted him that she wouldn't press him for everything, at least right now, and deep down he knew she was right. Was she always right?

"Ok, you're right."

"Oh, I know I am, Potter, and you better get used to it." She gave him a teasing smile and one last squeeze of his hand that he hadn't realized she was still holding and then skipped down the stairs. His hand suddenly felt cold as the last of the light reflected golden off of her hair and she disappeared around the corner.

* * *

 **A/N:** As I said at the beginning of this chapter i'm going to start posting responses to some of your awesome reviews so keep them coming!

Redneckgearhead; First off I love the username! Secondly I know a lot of people have issues with how far I took the abuse but I promise it was for a reason that will become more apparent later on, and I have every intention of finishing this!

Supersandman86; As for what Arthur did to the Dursley's I was struggling to come up the exact details so I decided to leave it up to my wonderful readers imaginations! I'm not planning on it being a Dumbledore and Ron bashing story there will be disagreements and conflicts but I think I have a good plan for how to handle those in a constructive and reasonable manner. And Just between us there are two different characters that will have more important and large conflicts later on.

Midnitewanderer; I'm glad you're enjoying it so much! I'm still planning on having Hogwarts last seven years, so they will be graduating at 20. I view the first four years kind of like Highschool and the last three years at Hogwarts more like getting an associates degree in college preparing them for whatever additional training/schooling they'll need for their chosen career.

Tonirae; I'm glad you're liking it even though it's not cannon just a fair warning it's going to get more AU from here but I really hope you'll stick it out. And thank you for understanding how and why i'm showing him struggling with his abuse the way I am. In this chapter I tried to show the beginning of his healing process and Ginny's vital role in it. Let me know if you have any advice on how to show it better, and thanks for the kind words on my writing it's something i'm working hard on improving.

Stormfly1124 and mbell185; Thank you for the well wishes!


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